
Class ija_AS"Ll. 

Book T^7 

Copyright N"_________. 

COPypiGHT DEPOSIT. 



STANDARD READER SERIES 



TEACHERS' MANUAL 



FOR 



SECOND READER • 

'. ^ , '''^ '' '■ " 
Edited by 
ISAAC K. FUNK, LL.D. 
Editor ^in^ Chief of the Standard Dictionary 

MONTROSE J. MOSES, B.S. 




FUNK & ^AGNjiLLS COMPANY 

New York and London 

ig04 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 



JAN 9 1904 



) ^0 '■ \i 




Copyright^ 1904, by Funk & WagnaUs Company 



Pbikted in the United States of America 






FOKEWORD 



A general introduction to the entire 
Standard Reader Series has been published 
in the Teachers' Manual for the First 
Reader. In the following pages the ma- 
terial given is meant to be simply suggest- 
ive, and to supplement the lessons in the 
Second Reader. Unity of subject=matter 
is aimed at throughout the book, and the 
attention of the teacher is called to those 
sources from which additional material 
may be gathered. The full purpose of the 
Standard Reader Series is outlined in the 
general introduction before mentioned. 



(iii) 



Teachees' Mai^ital 



LESSON I 

The Flag : The colored picture illus- 
trates the verse at the beginning of the text. 
Have the pupils talk about the flag. Either 
obtain or draw upon the board a perfectly 
proportioned flag. Have the pupils count 
the thirteen stripes. When it is said that 
the flag is twice as long as it is broad, the 
pupils, who have had a lesson in the First 
Reader on measurement (page 56), should 
take a niler or a piece of string and meas- 
ure it. 

The symbolism of the flag should be 
carefully explained. 

Phonetics : This consists of four words 
for pronunciation drill. The words, first of 
all, should be understood in connection with 
some thought — should, in fact, be used in 
sentences, either suggested by the teacher 
or by the pupils themselves. Then the 
words should be analyzed letter by letter 
1 



Teachers' Manual 



and sound by sound. For example, in the 
word union, respelled phonetically yun'- 
yun, the u (see Appendix to the Reader) 
sound and the o sound should be properly 
enunciated. The component consonants 
likewise should be studied. Then, in con- 
structive process, the consonants, with the 
vowels, should be sounded until the word 
as a whole is given in a pure way. 

A number of words are placed in phonetic 
spelling as a phonetic drill. After securing 
the correct pronunciation, have the pupils 
turn to their books and read from line to 
line of the text until they find the same 
word in the ordinary spelling, correspond- 
ing with the sound of the word given in the 
phonetic spelling. The following words 
may be used in the same way : all, for, so, 
on, is, are, us, see, etc. Other phonetic 
ideas are suggested, as follows : 

(a) Take a simple sentence; write it 
upon the board; have every vowel in the 
sentence sounded and also every consonant. 
Then let the pupil go to the board and 
write the phonetic form of each word over 
the word itself, the teacher herself aiding 
the pupil as occasion demands. 

(h) Drill on the long sound of a in arm; 



Lesson I B 

select those words in the text in which the 
fi sound occurs and place them upon the 
board. Use the words thus selected in sen- 
tences. Ask questions in which the words 
occur; as, "Are you an American ?" 

Blackboard Exercises : Draw upon 
the board an outline of the Stars and 
Stripes. To color this outline only three 
crayons are necessary — red, white, and 
blue. See that the proportions of the flag 
are according to the proportions given in 
the lesson. Have the pupils in turn go to 
the board and color the thirteen stripes; 
also let them add white dots to the field of 
blue, to represent the stars. Each pupil 
might also draw upon board, slate, or pad, 
the entire flag, using a small scale. Turn 
to page 28 of the Reader, and follow direc- 
tions for making a five=pointed star. 

Aritlimetic : In the text is material 
for a lesson in arithmetic : (a) the propor- 
tions of the flag; (b) the forty =five stars 
for counting ; (c) the thirteen stripes, alter- 
nating red and white, for counting. Innu- 
merable exercises in addition and subtrac- 
tion might be based on these data. 

Liiterature for the Teacher's Use : 
In the First Reader a short lesson was 



Teachers' Manual 



based upon the flag, and the Teachers' Man- 
ual gave suggestive material to be used. 
(See Lesson IX, Standard First Reader, and 
also Teachers' Manual for same, page 27. ) 
There the story of the Star Spangled Ban- 
ner is outlined. The following will prove 
of use in the schoolroom : 

Poems: I. "Golden Numbers" (Mc- 
Clure, Phillips & Company) , an anthology 
for youth, chosen and classified by Kate 
Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith. 
Consult particularly the department called 
"New World and Old Glory," in which 
are found : 

(1) The entire poem entitled "The Flag 
Goes By," from which one verse has been 
selected as an introductory to the lesson. 

(2) "Battle Hymn of the Republic," 
Julia Ward Howe. 

(3) "The Name of Old Glory," James 
Whitcomb Riley. 

n. In "Holy=Days and Holidays" (Funk 
& Wagnalls Company) , edited by Edward 
M. Deems, there is a department "Flag^ 
Raising Day" (page 588), in which the 
teacher will find the following : 

(1) "Our Colors," Laura E. Richards 
(explaining the symbolism of the colors). 



Lesson I 5 

(2) "The Flag of Our Union Forever," 
George P. Morris. 

(3) '' Chir Country's Starry Flag," Marga- 
ret E. Sangster. 

(4) "Salute the Flag," H. C. Bunner. 

(5) "Flag Song," Harriet Prescott Spof- 
ford. 

(6) "Star Spangled Banner," Francis 
Scott Key, The meaning of the words of 
the song should be explained. Many chil- 
dren have been forced to learn the words 
where they did not understand the meaning. 

Proie: Consult "Holy-Days and Holi- 
days." It contains (1) "The History of the 
Flag," (2) "The Stars and Stripes," (3) 
"Betsey Ross and the Flag," (4) "The 
School Flag," (5) "Flag Presentation." 
From the same book (page 589) we quote 
the following: 

" So we see that a series and number of flags appeared 
— the rattlesnake, the pine-tree, and the stripes, the vari- 
ous designs of the different colonies — until July, 1777, 
when the blue union of the stars was added to the 
stripes, and the law adopted this flag as the great na- 
tional emblem. After the adoption of this flag, a stripe 
was added for every new state; but as it became mani- 
fest that in time the beauty of the emblem would be 
marred by the enormous proportions acquired by addi- 
tional states, Congress reduced the stripes to the original 
thirteen, and the stars were made to correspond with the 
number of states. 



Teachers' Manual 



" Perhaps no flag on sea or land shows its grace and 
beauty of design so well as the emblem of the United 
States, as its proportions are perfect when it is accurately 
and properly made — one half as broad as it is long — the 
first stripe at the top red, the next white. . . . 

" The Continental Congress appointed a committee to 
supervise the union of the different parts of the national 
flag, and the following description of their design and 
significance was prepared: 

" ' The stars of the new flag represent the new constel- 
lation of states rising in the West. The idea was taken 
from the great constellation of Lyra which in the hand 
of Orpheus signifies harmony. The blue in the field was 
taken from the edges of the Covenanter's banner in Scot- 
land significant of the league covenant of the United 
States against oppression, incidentally involving the 
virtues of vigilance, perseverance, and justice. 

" ' The stars were disposed in a circle, symbolizing the 
perpetuity of the union; the ring, like the serpent of 
the Egyptians, signifying eternity. The thirteen stripes 
showed with the stars the number of the united colonies, 
and denoted the subordination of the states to the Union, 
as Avell as equality among themselves. The whole was 
the blending of the various flags of the army, and the 
white ones of the floating batteries. The red color, 
which in Roman days was the signal of defiance, denoted 
daring; and the white, purity.' " 

Write out a little dialogue in which the 
contents of the lesson and of the material 
here given are placed in a little dramatic 
piece. The children will delight in taking 
part in such a little play. For thirteen 
stripes, representing the thirteen colonies. 



Lesson II 7 

have thirteen children if possible. If the 
school is large enough to have the different 
stars represented by children and the dif- 
ferent stripes also represented by children, 
a child at each end of the thirteen stripes, 
holding ribbons of red and white, a very 
effective arrangement conld be made. 



LESSON II 



The Liesson : This is the first biograph- 
ical sketch in the literary course of the 
Reader. Some incidents connected with 
the life of Irving are here given for class- 
room use. The story of Rip Van Winkle, 
suggested in the First Reader, should be 
told at greater length by the teacher, or 
read directly from Irving's work. The his- 
torical allusions in the text to Washington 
and Lincoln should be explained. On a 
map of the United States locate Tarrytown 
upon the Hudson, 

From Charles Dudley Warner's "Wash- 
ington Irving " (American Men of Letters 
Series) we quote the following : 



Teachers' Manual 



" New York at the time of our author's bh-th was a 
rural city of about 23,000 inhabitants clustered about the 
Battery. It did not extend northward to the site of the 
present City Hall Park, ..." 



"In 1798 we find Irving passing a summer's holiday in 
Westchester County and exploring with his gun the 
Sleepy Hollow region which he was afterward to make 
an enchanted realm; and in 1800 he made his first voyage 
up the Hudson (page 28). ... In 1802 he became a law 
clerk. ..." 



"His biographer, Mr. Pierre M. Irving, has given no 
description of his appearance; but a relative, who saw 
much of our author in his latter years, %\-rites to me: 
'He ;had dark=gray eyes; a handsome straight nose 
which might perhaps be called >arge; a broad, high, full 
forehead, and a small mouth. I should call him of me- 
dium height, about five feet eight and a half to nine 
inches, and inclined to be a trifle stout. There was no 
peculiarity about his voice; but it was pleasant and had 
a good intonation. His smile was exceedingly genial, 
lighting up his whole face and rendering it very attract- 
ive; while, if he were about to say anything humorous, 
it would beam forth from his eyes even before the words 
were spoken. As a young man his face was exceedingly 
handsome, and his head was well covered with dark 
hair; but from my earliest recollection of him he wore 
neither whiskers nor moustache, but a dark=brown wig, 
which, altho it made him look younger, concealed a 
beautifully shaped head' ..." (page 48). 



" The preliminary announcement of the History was a 
humorous and skilful piece of advertising. Notices ap- 



Lesson II 9 

peared in the newspapers of the disappearance from his 
lodging of ' a small, elderly gentleman, dressed in an old 
black coat and cocked hat, by the name of Knicker- 
bocker.' Paragraphs from week to week, purporting to 
be the result of inquiry, elicited the facts that such an 
old gentleman had been seen traveling north in the Al- 
bany stage; that his name was Diedrich Knickerbocker; 
that he went away owing his landlord; and that he left 
behind a very curious kind of a written book, which would 
be sold to pay his bills if he did not return. So skilfully 
was this managed that one of the city oflacials was on the 
point of offering a reward for the discovery of the miss- 
ing Diedrich. This little man in knee breeches and 
cocked hat was the germ of the whole ' Knickerbocker 
legend,' a fantastic creation, which in a manner took the 
place of history, and stamped upon the commercial me- 
tropolis of the New World the indelible Knickerbocker 
name and character; and even now in the city it is an 
undefined patent of nobility to trace descent from ' an 
old Kxiickerbocker family ' . . . " (page 72). 



The following is from Miss Emily Foster, 

who notes his kindliness in observing life : 

" Some persons, in looking upon life, view it as they 
would view a picture, with a stern and criticizing eye. 
He also looks upon life as a picture, but to catch its 
beauties, its lights — not its defects and shadows. On 
the former he loves to dwell. He has a wonderful Tcnack 
at shutting his eyes to the sinister' side of anything. 
Never beat a more kindly heart than his; alive to the 
sorrows, but not to the faults, of his friends, but doubly 
alive to their virtues and goodness. Indeed, people 
seemed to grow more good with one so unselfish and so 
gentle." 



10 Teachers' Manual 

In the following paragraph (page 151) we 
get a glimpse of a world, however, that the 
author loves still more : .^ 

" Tell me everything about the children. I suppose '^ 
the discreet princess will soon consider it an indignity 
to be ranked among the number. I am told she is grow- 
ing with might and main, and is determined not to stop 
until she is a woman outright. I would give all the 
money in my pocket to be with those dear little women 
at the round table in the saloon, or on the gras8=plot in 
the garden, to tell them some marvelous tales. ..." 



" Give my love to all my dear little friends of the round 
table, from the discreet princess down to the little blue* 
eyed boy. Tell la petite Marie that I still remain true to 
her, tho surrounded by all the beauties of Seville; 
and that I swear (but this she must keep between our- 
selves) that there is not a little woman to compare with 
her in all Andalusia." 



" The spot he chose for his ' Roost ' was a little farm 
on the bank of the river at Tarrytown, close to his old 
Sleepy Hollow haunt, one of the loveliest, if not the most 
picturesque, situations on the Hudson. At first he in- 
tended nothing more than a summer retreat, inexpensive 
and simply furnished. But his experience was that of 
all who buy, and renovate, and build. The farm had on 
it a small stone Dutch cottage, built about a century 
before, and inhabited by one of the Van Tassels. This 
was enlarged, still preserving the quaint Dutch charac- 
teristics; it acquired a tower and a whimsical weather- 
cock, the delight of the owner (' it was brought from 
Holland by Gill Davis, the King of Coney Island, who 



i 



Lesson II 11 



says he got it from a windmill which they were demolish- 
ing at the gate of Rotterdam, which windmill has been 
mentioned in " Knickerbocker " ') and became one of 
the most snug and picturesque residences on the river. 
When the slip of Melrose ivy, which was brought over 
from Scotland by Mrs. Renwick and given to the author, 
had grown and well overrun it, the house, in the midst 
of sheltering groves and secluded walks, was as pretty a 
retreat as a poet could desire. But the little nook proved 
to have an insatiable capacity for swallowing up money, 
as the necessities of the author's establishment increased; 
there was always something to be done to the grounds; 
some alterations in the house, a greenhouse, a stable, a 
gardener's cottage to be built — and to the very end the 
outlay continued. The cottage necessitated economy in 
other personal expenses, and incessant employment of 
his pen. But Sunnyside, as the place was named, became 
the dearest spot on earth to him; it was his residence, 
from which he tore himself with reluctance, and to which 
he returned with eager longing; and here, surrounded by 
relatives whom he loved, he passed nearly all the re- 
mainder of his years, in as happy conditions, I think, as 
a bachelor ever enjoyed " (pages 163-164). 

Chronological : 

1783, April 3 — Irving bom in New York city. 

1798 — Explores region of Sleepy Hollow. 

1800 — First voyage up the Hudson. 

1802 — Law clerk. 

1804 — First visit to Europe. 

1806 — Returns to America. 

1809 — Publishes "A History of New York." 

1811-15 — European trip. 

1815-16 — Business worry. 

1817 — Death of Irving's mother; Irving still abroad. 



12 Teachers' Mamml 



1819 — First number of " The Sketch Book " publishe 

1820 — In Paris. 
1826 — In Spain. 

1832 — Irving returns to America, 
1342 — Tendered the honor of the mission to Madric 
Accepts. 
1859, Nov. 28 — Irving dies. 

The foregoing chronological table gives 
some events of Irving's life. The teacher 
might write a short account from this, sim- 
ple enough for children to understand. DO 
not make such accounts dry; take thos^ 
events connected with certain periods tha^ 
will not only be of interest to the average' 
child, but will tend to fix events by asso- 
ciation with interesting stories. The tend-* 
ency in writing history is not to set s(^ 
much store by exact dates as by some' 
incident typical of a certain period. So 
with the lives of great men. If we know 
about what time a man lived, what he rep- 
resents in literary history, the chief char- 
acteristics of his works, etc. , we have a fair 
knowledge of the man. The chronological 
table is not to be memorized by the pupil. 
It is for the teacher's use only ; it shows at 
at a glance the wide activity of the man. 

There are other lives of Washington Ir- 
ving besides the one quoted from. Mr. 



Lesson II 13 

i/arner's "Life" is short and well written ; 
the teacher could run through it rapidly, 
electing much valuable material that 
.pace will not permit us to quote. 
Remember that young children desire 
ories. Even in the biographical sketches 
ihe teacher should picture the author stud- 
ied as the hero of the different events. 
Motto : If possible let the children 
each an author through what he himself 
^as said and written. The motto given in 
r,his lesson has a very direct moral. Its 
full force should be grasped by the pupils. 
Phonetics : The pronunciation drill 
consists of six words contained in the text, 
ive of which are proper names. The first 
n sound in the word Lincoln is equivalent 
to the ng sound, written with a dot under 
the n [n]. The teacher should understand 
the use of the mark under a letter to show 
the general weakening of a vowel sound. 
Placed thus ^^, curving downward, under a 
letter it means that the vowel sound tends 
to weaken toward u ; placed thus s_^, curv- 
ing upward, it shows the weakening toward 
i. In the words Irving and president the 
weakened e sound tends very slightly 
toward u, but is not a w sound ; the pupils 



14 Teachers' Manual 

must not be allowed to say prez'-i-dunt 
but prez'-i-dgnt. au in Tarry town and ai 
in Sunnyside should not be emphasized as 
yet except in so far as these sounds are part 
of the word. The phonetic drill is to be 
upon the first line, containing examples of 
the various " E " sounds studied in the First 
Reader. The second line contains miscel- 
laneous sounds. These phonetic drills will 
aid materially in fixing with clearness and 
definiteness in the minds of the pupils the 
different sounds and their unvarying sym- 
bols. 



LESSON III 



Tlie Lesson : The incident of this les- 
son is based on Irving's "Knickerbocker 
History of New York." Apart from the 
historical facts connected with the admin- 
istration of Peter Stuyvesant and of the 
passing of New Amsterdam into the hands 
of the English, which the teacher could 
outline for the pupils, ' ' the good old days 
of Knickerbocker life" as described by 



Lesson III 15 

Irving in his Knickerbocker history shonld 
furnish interesting stories. For example, 
here are some passages : 

" The houses of the higher class were generally con- 
structed of wood excepting the gable end, which was of 
small black and yellow Dutch bricks, and always faced 
on the street. . . . The house was always furnished 
with an abundance of large doors and small windows on 
every floor, . . . and on the top there was perched a 
fierce little weathercock to let the family into the im- 
portant secret — which way the wind blew. . . . 

" In those good days of simplicity and sunshine the pas- 
sion for cleanliness was the leading principle of domestic 
economy. . . . The whole house was constantly in a 
state of inundation under the discipline of mops and 
brooms and scrubbing-brushes; and the good house- 
wives of those days were a kind of amphibious animal. 

" The grand parlor was the sanctum sanctorum, where 
the passion for cleaning was indulged without control. 
In this sacred apartment no one was permitted to enter 
except the mistress and her confidential maid, who vis- 
ited it once a week for the purpose of giving it a thor- 
ough cleaning and putting things to rights — always ta- 
king the precaution of leaving their shoes at the door and 
entering devoutly in their stocking feet. . . . 

"As to the family, they always entered in at the gate 
and most generally lived in the kitchen. . . . 

" The fireplaces were of a truly patriarchal magnitude 
where the whole family, old and young, master and 
servant, black and white— nay, even the very cat and 
dog — enjoyed community of privilege, and had each a 
right to a corner. Here the old burgher would sit in 
perfect silence puffing his pipe, looking in the fire with 
Ihalf'shut eyes, and thinking of nothing for hours to- 



16 Teachers' Manual 

gether; the goede vrouw on the opposite side would em- 
ploy herself diligently in spinning yarn or knitting 
stockings. In those happy days the well=regulated fam- 
ily always rose with the dawn, dined at eleven, and 
w«it to bed at sundown." 

For fnrther selections the teacher is re- 
ferred either to the "Knickerbocker His- 
tory of New York" itself, or to "The Li- 
brary of the World's Best Literature" 
(Charles Dudley Warner), Vol. XIV, page 
8,000. 

Of Peter Stuyvesant, whose administra- 
tion began on May 29, 1647, Irving, in his 
inimitable way, writes : 

"Peter Stuyvesant was the last, and, like the re- 
nowned Wouter Van Twiller, the best of our ancient 
Dutch governors. . . . 

" All this martial excellency of appearance was inex- 
pressibly heightened by an accidental advantage, with 
which I am surprised that neither Homer nor Vergil have 
graced any of their heroes. This was nothing less than 
a wooden leg, which was the only prize he had gained in 
bravely fighting the battles of his country, but of which 
he was so proud that he was often heard to declare he 
valued it more than all his other limbs put together; in- 
deed, so highly did he esteem it that he had it gallantly 
enchased and relieved with silver devices, which caused 
it to be related in divers histories and legends that he 
wore a silver leg. . . . 

" I must likewise own that he made but very few laws; 
but then, again, he took care that those few were rigidly 



Lesson III 17 

and impartially enforced; and I do not know but justice, 
on the whole, was as well administered as if there had 
been volumes of sage acts and statutes yearly made, and 
daily neglected and forgotten. . . . 

" He was, in fact, the very reverse of his predecessors, 
being neither tranquil and inert, like Walter the Doubter, 
nor restless and fidgety like William the Testy, but a 
man, or rather a governor, of such uncommon activity 
and decision of mind that he never sought nor accepted 
the advice of others, depending bravely upon his single 
head, as would a hero of yore upon his single arm, to 
carry him through all diflaculties and dangers. To tell 
the simple truth, he wanted nothing more to complete 
him as a statesman than to think always right; for no 
one can say bat that he always acted as he thought. He 
was never a man to flinch when he found himself in a 
scrape, but to dash forward through thick and thin, 
trusting, by hook or by crook, to make all things straight 
m the end. In a word, he possessed, in an eminent de- 
gree, that great quality in a statesman, called persever- 
ance by the polite, but nicknamed obstinacy by the vul- 
gar—a wonderful salve for oflacial blunders, since he 
who perseveres in error without flinching gets the credit 
of boldness and consistency, while he who wavers in 
seeking to do what is right gets stigmatized as a trim- 
mer. . . . 

" There is nothing, too, like putting down one's foot 
resolutely when in doubt, and letting things take their 
course. The clock that stands still points right twice in 
the four=aud-twenty hours, while others may keep going 
continually and be continually going wrong." 

Phonetics: Exercise the pupils upon 
the pronunciation drill words. Group the 
different words under different vowel 



18 Teachers Manual 

sounds, for example, under o the words 
Dutch, governor, sunflower; under weak- 
ened §, believed and belonged. 

To the Teacher: In his "Shak- 
spere and His Forerunners" (Doubleday, 
Page & Company), Sidney Lanier discusses 
tone=color in reading, which depends upon 
the predominance of certain vowel and con- 
sonant sounds contained in a word or sen- 
tence. The teacher will find this theory 
thoroughly discussed in the same author's 
' ' The Science of English Verse. " We quote 
from Lanier's book on Shakespeare. Speak- 
ing of why it is we recognize the difference 
between a mandolin and a flute, both play- 
ing the same scale or series of tones, the 
author says : 

"If I were in the next room where you could not see 
the change in the instruments, still the most unpractised 
ear would unerringly recognize a certain difference in 
this tune as played on the mandolin and as played on 
the flute. Now what makes this difference ? It is not a 
difference of duration, it is not a difference of pitch, it is 
not a difference of intensity, because in all of these par- 
ticulars the tones played are precisely alike. It is a dif- 
ference of tone^color. This is the characteristic differ- 
ence which enables us to distinguish the quality of tone 
of different instruments. If the same tune be played on 
an organ, a flute, a violin, a horn, a clarinet, an oboe, a 
human voice, we recognize it as the same tune, and we 



Lesson III 19 



at the same time recognize the characteristic quality of 
each instrument, which is known as tone^color. Now 
this same tone=color is the principle of difference be- 
tween vowel sounds and between consonant sounds. 
Just as we distinguish a violin tone from a flute tone 
by the characteristic quality of tone belonging to each 
instrument, so we distinguish the vowel o, for instance, 
from the vowel a. If I utter the vowel o with the same 
duration of sound, the same pitch, the same intensity as 
the vowel a, you nevertheless clearly distinguish the o 
sound from the a sound, tho they differ neither in 
duration, in pitch, nor in intensity. The characteristic 
differences among vowel sounds, in short, are differ- 
ences of tone^color. . . . 

"Tone>=color . . . results from the fact that all the 
tones ordinarily heard are composite. Just as a ray of 
light is composed of the three colored rays united, so 
each tone we ordinarily hear— whether a tone of speech 
such as a word or a tone of a musical instrument— is 
composed of subordinate tones in combination with a 
chief tone called the fundamental tone. These subordi- 
nate tones are called ♦ upper partia' tone, or sometimes 
' harmonics.' Now you can easily imagine in a general 
way that if the ingredients of such a composite tone be 
changed the tone itself will be changed in some way. 
It is changed, and the change is one of tone^color. . . . 

"Now if you will regard the buccal cavity, here the 
mouth, as a tube which can instantly alter itself to many 
different shapes and which by so doing can blot out now 
one set, now another set of the harmonics of any tone 
which may be produced by the voice, you will see inome- 
diately how the tone«=colors of words— that is, the vowel 
sounds (mainly)— are produced and altered. When I 
speak the vowel o, for example, I have unconsciously 
arranged the tube of my mouth so as to produce a cer- 
tain set of harmonics in combination with whatever fun- 



20 Teachers' Manual 

damental tones I am employing for the utterance; if I 
leave o and speak a at the same pitch precisely, I have 
unconsciously altered the tuhe of the larynx and mouth 
so as to retain the same fundamental tone and to substi- 
tute a different set of harmonics in combination with it" 
(pages 18-19). 

On reading this the teacher will realize 
how important nrast be the absolute purity 
of the different sounds composing a word. 
The ear should be so well trained in 
detecting the different combinations in 
human speech that a sound incorrectly 
given should produce as disagreeable an 
effect upon the hearer as discord would in 
an orchestra. 

One of the great requirements of a good 
reader is the quality and the sweetness of 
the voice that has thorough range and con- 
trol of itself. Certain lines of prose or poetry 
contain more vowel sounds than others. 
The poets select words for tonal effects. 
Thus we find in some poetry that open vowel 
sounds predominate for certain delicate ef- 
fects, and that closed vowel sounds are used 
for deeper and more majestic effects. We 
find alliteration, in numerable combinations 
of words to produce a certain tonal color — 
all of which would be lost if proper consid- 
eration were not given to each tone. 



Lesson IV 21 



LESSON lY 



Phonetics : No phonetics being given 
in the lesson, the following are suggested : 

(a) Sound all the "A" sounds in the 
following words: man, have, happened, 
had. (b) Sound all the "E" sounds: laid, 
them, every, day, said, become, were, her, 
shaking. 

Phonetic Sentence : Nau wi hav 
no gus tbat lez thg gold'-n egz. 

In the sentence above drill upon vowel 
sound by vowel sound and consonant 
sound by consonant sound according to the 
directions for holding the organs of speech 
given in the appendix of the Second Reader. 
These sounds should be uttered distinctly 
and with no undue effort. 

Irregular Plural§ : The words goose 
and geese are found in the text. Attention 
was called in the First Reader Manual to 
the forming of plurals by the simple addi- 
tion of the letter s. Have short and simple 



Teachers' Manual 



drills upon a few of the most common 
words that derive their plurals irregulariy. 
For example : 



man 




men 


half 


halves 


foot 




feet 


wolf 


wolves 


mouse 




mice 


tooth 


teeth 


calf 




calves 


shelf 


shelves 


elf 




elves 


sheaf 


sheaves 


life 




lives 


self 


selves 


Tell 


the children 


the following 


from 


"^sop's 


Fables " : 







The Fox and the Grapes. 

" One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an 
orchard when he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripen- 
ing on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. 
'Just the thing to quench my thirst,' quoth he. Draw- 
ing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and 
just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a 
One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater 
success. Again and again he tried after the tempting 
morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away 
with his nose in the air, saying: 'I am sure they are 
sour.' 

"It is easy to despise what you can not get." 

The foregoing is taken from the version 
of "^sop's Fables" written and edited by 
Mr. Joseph Jacobs, through whose kind 
permission we are allowed to quote the fol- 
lowing also: 



Lesson IV 33 

The Fox and the Stork. 

" At one time the Fox and the Stork were on visiting 
terms, and seemed very good friends. So the Fox 
invited the Stork to dinner, and for a joke put nothing 
before her but some soup in a very shallow dish. This 
the Fox could easily lap up, but the Stork could only 
wet the end of her long bill in it, and left the meal as 
hungry as when she began. ' I am sorry,' said the Fox, 
' the soup is not to your liking.' 

"'Pray, do not apologize,' said the Stork. 'I hope 
you will return this visit, and come and dine with me 
soon.' So a day was appointed when the Fox should 
visit the Stork; but when they were seated at table all 
that was for their dinner was contained in a very long=^ 
necked jar with a narrow mouth in which the Fox could 
not insert his snout, so all he could manage to do was to 
lick the outside of the jar. 

" ' I will not apologize for the dinner,' said the Stork. 

" ' One bad turn deserves another.' " 

To tlie Teacher : From the "Science 
of Fairy Tales," E. S. Hartland (Charles 
Scribner's Sons) we quote the following: 

"The art of story =telling has been cultivated in all 
ages and among all nations of wtiich we have any record; 
it is the outcome of an instinct implanted universally in 
the human mind. By means of a story the savage phi- 
losopher accounts for his own existence and that of all 
the phenomena that surround him. With a story the 
mothers of the wildest tribes awe their little ones into 
silence or arouse them into delight. And the weary hunt- 
ers beguile the long silence of a desert night with the 
mirth and wonders of a tale. But imagination is not less 
fruitful in the highen races; and, passing through forms 



24 Teachers' Marmal 

sometimes more and sometimes less serious, the art of 
storytelling unites with the kindred arts of dance and 
song to form the epic or the drama, or develops imder 
the complex influences of modern life into the prose 
romance and the novel. These in their various ways are 
its ultimate expression, and the loftiest genius has found 
no fitter vehicle .to convey its lessons of truth and 
beauty." 



LESSON V 



Introductory : In the Reader twenty 
birds have been selected for the bird lessons 
and have been grouped according to the 
following scheme: 

Owl 1 

Z^Z^^ ^Bird^UeefaltoMan. 

Woodpecker (Downy) J 

Thrush (Hermit; Wood) ") 

Catbird I a„„„ t>j^„ 

Meadow=Lark \ Song-Birds. 

Cardinal J 

Tanager (Scarlet) "] 

Humm^Sg=Bird ^ Birds of Beauty. 

Oriole (Baltimore) J 

Bluebird "^ 

BlS;kbird (Eed^Winged) i" Familiar Home Birds. 

Sparrow (Chippy) j 

Swan "^ 

Wren (House) f ^^^^ °^ Poetry and Literature. 

Bobolink J t 



Lesson V 25 

This grouping is a practical rather than 
a scientific one. The teacher could arrange 
other groups, herself collecting interesting 
material about bird life. The bibliography- 
following will cover all of the lessons on 
birds. We have to acknowledge indebt- 
edness to Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of the 
Museum of Natural History, New York 
city, who examined the bird pictures for 
us. In our "Notes" we shall have occa- 
sion to quote from Mr. Chapman's books, 
which are full of suggestions for school- 
room work. 

(1) "Bird Life," Frank M. Chapman (D. 
Appleton & Company). Consulting the 
table of contents and the index, we find : 

(a) " The Bird— Its Place in Nature and Eelation to 
Man." 
(6) " The Living Bird and the Factors of Evolution," 

(c) " The Colors of Birds." 

(d) " The Migration of Birds." 

(e) " The Voice of Birds." 
(/) " The Nesting Season." 
(g) " How to Identify Birds." 
ih) " The Water=Birds." 

(t) "TheLand'Birds." 

The teacher should call attention to the 
seasons when the birds arrive in and when 
they leave a particular locality. She 



26 Teachers' Manual 

should also make a list of the birds of par- 
ticular months, so that appropriate stories 
concerning them can be told at the proper 
time. 

(2) "Birds of Village and Field," Flor- 
ence A. Merriam (Houghton, Mifflin & 
Company) . This book discusses the feet of 
birds and the different marked character- 
istics such as the tongue, the tail, the 
claws, and the eggs. In the appendix the 
author writes of the migration of birds, 
and a general outline for field observation 
is given. By field observation is meant 
making note of the size, color, and mark- 
ings of birds ; the shape of body ; the shape 
of tail and wings; the appearance of the 
bird when moving ; the movements of the 
bird on the ground; the character of the 
flight of the bird ; the localities frequented ; 
the kinds of food and the manner of obtain- 
ing food ; the songs of birds ; the time and 
character of the songs ; the habits of birds, 
whether they go in flocks or form roosts, 
and what curious actions they perform; 
the nests and their location; the size of 
the nest; the form of the nest; the mate- 
rials of the nest; the length of time the 
nest is used ; how the nest is constructed ; 



Lesson V 27 

how many days it takes to build ; the num- 
ber of eggs, the color and the markings of 
the same. The mention of these points 
will show from what an infinite number of 
view=points the subject may be approached. 
The appreciation of a bird is mostly ob- 
tained through observation, one of the 
fundamental principles of education. 

(3) ''Bird Neighbors," Kelt je Blanchan 
(Doubleday & McClure Company) . 

(4) "Birds That Hunt and Are Hunted," 
Neltje Blanchan (Doubleday & McClure 
Company) . 

In "Bird Neighbors," the ordinary birds 
found around the home are described. 
With the discussion of each bird is given 
the length, a general description of the 
male and female, the young, the range, 
and the season. "Birds That Hunt and 
Are Hunted " is treated in the same way, 
only it consists of Part I, " Water =Birds " ; 
Part H, "Wading Birds"; Part HI, 
"Game=Birds"; Part IV, "Birds of Prey." 

(5) "Among the Water==Fowl," Herbert 
K. Job (Doubleday, Page & Conipany). 

(6) "Friends Worth Knowing," Ernest 
Ingersoll (Harper & Bros.). Among the 
suggestive chapters may be mentioned 



28 Teachers' Manual 

"First Comers," "Our Winter Birds," and 
" Song=Sparrow and Bank=Swallows." 

(7) "All the Year Round, Part I, Au- 
tumn," Frances L. Strong (Ginn & Com- 
pany). Besides having notes for the 
teacher, there are interesting stories told; 
note "Yearly Travelers" (page 98). 

(8) "Flowers and Their Friends," Mar- 
garet W. Morley (Ginn & Company). See 
poem, " The Humming=Bird " (page 74). 

(9) "The Bird World," Stickney and 
Hoffman (Ginn & Company). See page 17 
for diagram of bird, with indications of 
principal parts. Note the following mate- 
rial of interest to be found : 

" The Coming of the Birds." 

" Bird Acquaintances." 

"Bills of Fare." 

" How Birds Pass the Night." 

"Bird Homes." 

" About Birds' Toes." 

" Feet of Birds." 

" When a Bird Changes His Clothes." 

"Bird Passports." 

" The Bird World in Winter." 

" Bird Lodgings in Winter." 

"Birds' Enemies." 

"Bird Language." 

"Birds' Bills." 

"Bird Songs." 



Lesson V 29 

(10) "Wilderness Ways," William J. 
Long (Ginn & Company) . 

(11) ''All the Year Round," Part III, 
Strong (Ginn & Company). Contains 
notes to the teachers and 

(i7i prose) : 

(a) " How the Robin Got His Red Breast." 

(b) " Origin of the Woodpecker."' 

(in poetry): 

(a) "What Robin Told." 

id) "■ The Pigeon and the Owl." 

(12) "Little Nature Studies," Vol. 2. 
selections from John Burroughs (Ginn & 
Company) . Note the following : 

" The Bird and the Looking'Glass." 

' ' How to Observe Nature. ' ' 

" The Wolf in Feathers." 

" Egg'Shells and Young Birds." 

"Cradles of Birds." 

" Hasty Observation." 

At the bottom of each lesson page this 
book suggests subjects for conversation. 

(13) "Woodpeckers," Fanny Hardy Eck- 
stom (Houghton, Mifflin & Company). 

(14) "The Ways of Wood Folk," Will- 
iam J. Long (Ginn & Company). 

(15) " Familiar Life in Field and Forest," 



30 Teachers' Manual 

F. Schuyler Mathews (D. Appleton & 
Company) . Consult chapters entitled : 

" Early Voices of Spring." 

'^ Accomplished Vocalists." 

" Strange Creatures with Strange Voices." 

(16) "Curious Homes and Their Ten- 
ants," James Carter Beard (D. Appleton & 
Company). The teacher will find the fol- 
lowing suggestive : 

" Birds that Build Edible Nests." 

'■'■ A Bird Borrower." 

" Eagles' Nests." 

" A City of Birds," etc. 

(17) "Story Hour," Kate Douglas Wig- 
gin and Nora Archibald Smith (Houghton, 
Mifflin & Company) . See particularly the 
stories entitled : 

"The Oriole's Nest." 

" The Babes in the Woods." 

(18) "Among the Forest People," C. D. 
Pierson (E. P. Dutton & Company). Con- 
sult particularly : 

" The Red=Headed Woodpecker Children." 
" The Young Blue Jay Who Wasn't Brave Enough to 
Be Afraid." 
"Why Mr. Great=Horned Owl Hatched the Eggs." 

(19) "Harold's Rambles," Troeger (D, 
Appleton & Company). 



Lesson V 31 

(20) "Nature Study in Elementary 
Schools," Wilson (The Macniillan Com- 
pany). 

(21) "Handbook of Nature Study," 
Longe (The Macmillan Company). 

Concerning ]\rature Poetry : John 
Burroughs, in the compilation of his 
"Songs of Nature" (McClure, Phillips & 
Company), had to discard many pieces 
which, from a poetic standpoint, were 
good, but which were inaccurate in their 
nature aspect. He says in his Introduction : 

"I am surprised at the amount of so=calied nature 
poetry that has been added to English literature during the 
past fifty years, but I find only a little of it of permanent 
worth. The painted, padded, and perfumed nature of 
so many of the younger poets I can not ' stand at alU I 
have not knowingly admitted any poem that was not 
true to my own observations of nature— or that diverged 
at all from the facts of the case. Thus a poem that 
shows the swallow perched upon the barn in October I 
could not accept because the swallow leaves us in 
August. . . . 

"In a bird poem I want the real bird as a basis — not 
merely a description of it, but its true place in the season 
and in the landscape, and no liberties taken with the 
facts of its life history. . . . Give me a real bird first, 
and then all the poetry that can be evoked from it. . . , 

" When the poet can give us himself (as in Keats' 'Ode 
to a Nightingale '), we can well afford to miss the bird." 

In teaching, bring the child as close to 



32 Teachers' Manual 

nature as possible and inculcate a love for 
the simplest things, as part of one vast de- 
sign, "To me the meanest flower that 
blows," sings Wordsworth, "can give 
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for 
tears." There is not a detail in nature that 
has not its especial value, and the training 
to observe, compare, and contrast can in 
no way be better accomplished than in the 
study of birds. 

Consult Mr. Burroughs' anthology for 
poems; also: (1) " Nature in Verse, " Mary 
I. Lovejoy (Silver, Burdett & Company). 

" The Robin."— Celia Thaxter. 

" Margerie's Almanac.'" — Thomas Bailey Aldrich. 

" The Mocking'Bird's Song."— J. R. Drake. 

(2) "Golden Numbers," Kate Douglas 
Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith (Mc- 
Clure, Phillips & Company). Note the 
following : 

"Sing On, Blithe Bird."— William Motherell. 
" To a Skylark."— Shelley. 
"The Skylark,"- Frederick Tennyson. 
" The Bobolinks."— Christopher Cranch. 
" To a Water Fowl."— William Cullen Bryant. 
" The Eagle."— Tennyson. 

" The Flight of the Birds."- Edmund Clarence Sted- 
man. 

These suggestions that are presented to 



Lesson V 33 

the teacher should be considered in view 
of the requirements of her class, which 
she alone knows. The teacher's task does 
not end with the day's work. She should 
devote some time to planning the work for 
succeeding days. 
The birds in this lesson have been 

grouped, because of their 
Tanager, Blue , -n- j_ t j 

Jay, Humminff= briUiant plumage, under 
Bird, Oriole the heading, "Birds of 

Beauty." 
Scarlet Tanager : Neltje Blanchan, 
in her "Bird Neighbors" (Doubleday & 
McClure Company), says that the family of 
the tanagers is 

"Distinctly an American family, remarkable for their 
brilliant plumage, which, however, undergoes great 
changes twice a year. Females different from males, 
being dull and inconspicuous . . . shy inhabitants of 
woods. Tho they may nest low in trees, they choose 
high perches M^hen singing or feeding upon flowers, 
fruit, and insects. As a family, the tanagers have weak, 
squeaky voices, but both our »pecies are good songsters. 
. . . Immense numbers have been shot annually." 

From the same source and A. R. Dug- 
more's "Bird Homes," we gather the fol- 
lowing about the scarlet tanager : 

Family.— Tanager. Piranga erythronielas. 

Eange.— North America and northern Canada; in 
winter. South America. 
3 



34 Teachers' Manual 

Migration.— May, October. Summer resident. 

Size.— 7-7.5 inches ; J smaller than the robin. 

Food.— Caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, 
mulberry. 

Nest. — Location : On horizontal branches, usually in or- 
chards. Matet^al : Fine roots, tendrils, sticks, and straw. 

Eggs.— JVumber : 3 to 5. Color: Greenish blue, spotted 
at large end with purple and chestnut. 

Male in spring plumage : brilliant scarlet with black 
wings and tail; coverts greenish white. In autumn 
similar to female. Female: olive green above; wings 
and tail dark, lightly margined with olive; underneath 
greenish yellow. 

The card in the bird=case of the American 
Museum of Natural History (New York) 
states that there are nearly 400 species of 
this bird, which is strictly an American 
bird, confined mainly to the tropics, but a 
few found in temperate North America. 
These birds are closely related to sparrows 
and finches. 

Blue Jay : This bird belongs to the 
crow and jay family, noted especially for 
their harsh voices. The male and the 
female are blue, with a band of black 
around the neck ; the under parts are dusky 
white; under wing coverts and tail is 
bright blue, striped transversely with black, 
and with many feathers, tipped with white ; 
head finely crested ; bill and legs black. 



Lesson V 35 

Family.— Crow and Jay. CyanodUa cristata. 

Range. — Eastern North America to plains. 

Migration.— Eesident. 

Size. — 11 to 12 inches; a little larger than robin. 

Food. — Corn, insects, acorns, chestnuts. 

Nest. — Location : Any sort of tree or bush. Matei'ial: 
Twigs, roots, weeds, rags, strings. [FM. Dugmore.] 

Eggs. — Mirnber : 3 to 6. Color : Greenish or yellow- 
ish drab spotted with reddish brown, greenish, and dull 
lilac spots. 

Very emphatic is Neltje Blanchan as to 
the characteristics of this bird ; she writes : 

" His is a case of ' beauty covering a multitude of sins.' 
Among close students of bird traits, we find none so 
poor as to do him reverence. Dishonest, cruel, inquisi- 
tive, murderous, voracious, villainous are some of the 
epithets applied to this bird of exquisite plumage. 
Emerson, however, has said in his defense he does 
' more good than harm,' alluding, no doubt, to his 
habit of burying nuts and hard seeds in the ground, so 
that many a waste place is clothed with trees and shrubs, 
thanks to his propensity and industry." 

Hummiug-'Bird : Of these birds, 

Neltje Blanchan writes: 

" Very small birds with green plumage (iridescent red 
or orange breast in males); long needle=shaped bill for 
extracting insects and nectar from deep=cupped flowers, 
and exceedingly rapid, darting flight. Small feet." 

On the ruby=throated humniing=bird the 
same author has in part the following (this 
is condensed) : 



36 Teachers Manual 

Male: brilliant metallic green above; wings and tail 
darkest, with ruddypurplisli reflections and dusky» 
white tips on outer tail^quills. Throat and breast bril- 
liant metallic red in one light, orange flame in another, 
and dusky orange in another, according as the light 
strikes the plumage. Sides greenish; underneath light- 
est gray, with whitish border outlining the brilliant 
breast. 

Family. — Humming-bird. Trochilus colubris. 

Kange. — Eastern North America; winters in Central 
America. 

Migration.— May, October. 

Size.— 3.5 to 3.75 inches; about i as large as the Eng- 
lish sparrow. 

Food. — Flowers, nectar. 

'^est.— Location : Saddled on the branch of a tree. 
Material : Woolly vegetable substance, covered on inside 
with moss. [Vid. Dugmore.] 

'Eggs.— Number : 2. Color: White. 

"Of about four hundred species of humming-birds 
known to ornithology, the ruby=throat is the only variety 
found east of the Mississippi." 

Oriole : Called also the Golden Oriole 
and the English Robin. [ Vid. ' ' Bird Neigh- 
bors" and "Bird Homes."] 

Male : head, throat, upper part of back glossy black. 
Wings black, with white spots and edgings. Tail-quills 
black, with yellow markings on the tip, everywhere else 
orange, shading into flame. Female: yellowish olive. 
Wings dark brown, and quills margined with white 
Tail yellowish brown, with obscure, dusky bars. 

Family.— Oriole and Blackbird. Icterus galbula. 

Range.— Entire United States. 



Lesson V 37 

Migration.— Early May; summer resident; middle of 
September. 

Size.— 7-8 inches; 1/5 smaller than robin. 

Food. — Caterpillars, beetles, worms. 

Nest. — Location: Pensile or hanging, small twigs at 
the end of the branch. Matei^al : Grass, plant fibers, 
downy seed, cotton, string, lining of grass, hair, and wool. 

Eggs.- iVwmfier ; 4 to 6. Color : Pale gray or almost 
white, with lines and blotches of purplish brown. 

The Liesson : The teacher should not 
stop with the material given in this book, 
nor should she feel herself pledged to use all 
the material suggested ; if she has any facts 
that she thinks would be more interesting 
to the pupil she should make use of them. 

The unity of the lesson lies in the discus- 
sion of the color of the birds. Vivid feath- 
ers are easily seen, no matter how thick 
the foliage may be; for this reason the 
tanager and the bluebird and the oriole 
have, more than any other birds, come 
within easy range of the sportsman's gun. 
Because the life of the mother is most 
important to her brood, the female is plain 
in color, and not exposed to the same risks 
as the male. Emphasize the wanton crueltj'' 
that is often inflicted upon birds of fine 
plumage by the thoughtless; a great num- 
ber of birds are killed yearly to furnish 



38 Teachers' Manual 

milliners with wings for hats. Every 
wing found upon a hat represents the loss 
of a bird life; tho many crusades have 
been made against this cruelty, notably 
the work done by the Audubon Society, 
the milliner is still persistent in her demand 
for brilliant plumage. Awaken a deter- 
mination on the part of the children to do 
all they can to protect bird life. Hunting 
is an amusement, but why not hunt with a 
camera instead of a gun? A person will 
obtain just as much amusement fromi it, 
and it will certainly be much more pleas- 
ant for the birds, altho even at the sight of 
a camera they are rather timid. Interest 
your pupils in these new methods that are 
constantly being introduced by scientific 
thinkers and which, to the average child, 
take the form of an amusement, but which, 
as he grows older, will unfold in their true 
light and importance. Mr. Frank M. 
Chapman has written a volume called 
"Bird Studies with the Camera" (D. Ap- 
pleton & Company) which is well worth 
reading : 

" The killing of a bird with a gun seems little short of 
murder after one has attempted to capture its image 
with a lens. The demands on the skill and patience of 



Lesson V 39 

the bird=photographer are endless, and his pleasure is 
intensified in proportion to the nature of the difficulties 
to be overcome, and in the event of success it is per- 
petuated by the infinitely more satisfactory results ob- 
tained. He does not rejoice over a bag of mutilated 
flesh and feathers, but in the possession of a trophy— an 
eloquent token of his prowess as a hunter, a talisman 
which holds the power of revivifying the circumstances 
attending its acquisition " (page 3). 

Phonetics : The nine words in the 
pronunciation drill should be taken up in 
the customary way. Group according to 
common sounds; for example, the words 
tanager and different both contain the ^r 
sound; the words camera and different 
contain the e sound weakening toward u. 
Call attention to the difference between 
the weakened e sound in camera (cam'- 
§-ra) and the weakened § sound in orange 
(or'-enj), where in the latter there is a 
tendency toward i. Two words contain the 
short a sound: camera, tanager. In the 
phonetic drill, the first line contains only 
examples of "O" sounds. 

The Words in Text : There are many 
words in the text which the teacher should 
use in* pronunciation exercises. For in- 
stance: greenish, tipped, apple, pictu7^e, 
etc. The abbreviations Mr. and Mrs. 



40 Teachers' Manual 

should be explained. Adopt the same 
method of obtaining clear sounds as was 
suggested in the Teachers' Manual for 
the First Reader. Have the pupil go to 
the opposite side of the room, and re^ieat 
the sentence : "I saw a scarlet tanager. " 

T. — What did you see '? 

P. — A scarlet tanager. 

T. — What kind of a tanager ? 

P. — A scarlet tanager. 

In this way the proper raising of the 
voice and the proper sounding of the vow- 
els will be secured. 



LESSON YI 



Black Beauty : The story of "Black 
Beauty" by Anna Sewell, being the auto- 
biography of a horse, created at the time 
of its publication a great deal of interest ; 
it discussed what has for a long time been 
a disputed question among owners of 
horses — the advisability of using check= 
reins, blinkers, and crupper and of the 



Lesson VI 41 

docking of horses' tails. Besides which, 
written from a human standpoint, it gave 
some sound raps at those who looked upon 
horses simply as beasts of burden. Read 
the story; you will find therein many in- 
cidents that will be of interest to children. 

ISome Wise Sayings from ^^ Black 
Beauty": 

[Speaking of John, his groom, Black Beauty said:] 
"I grew very fond of him, he was so gentle and kind; 
he seemed to know just how a horse feels, and when he 
cleaned me he knew the tender places and the ticklish 
places; when he brushed my head, he went as carefully 
over my eyes as if they were his own, and never stirred 
up any ill temper.''' 

" Spirited horses, when not enough exercised, are often 
called skittish when it is only play." 

" If I had had your bringing^up [a horse said to Black 
Beauty one day], I might have as good a temper as you. 
... I never had any one, horse or man, that was kind 
to me." 

[In John's (the groom's) Philosophical Cook Book he 
Bpeaks of a certain kind of food made up] " Of patience 
and gentleness, firmness and petting, one pound of each 
to be mixed up with a pint of common sense, and given 
to the horse every day." 

" Good places make good horses." 

The Lesson : Talk to the pupils con- 
cerning the different kinds of horses: the 
coach=horse, the saddle=horse, and the f arm= 
horse. Tell of the old coaching=days in the 



42 Teachers' Ma7iual 

early part of the nineteenth century when 
there were no railways. A good descrip- 
tion of a coaching expedition may be found 
in Dickens' "Nicholas Nickleby," when 
Nicholas leaves with Mr. Sqneers for 
Dotheboy's Hall. 

In Russia traveling is done largely in 
sleighs, and accounts are given of how 
people suffer in traveling for miles and 
miles with nothing but a white stretch 
of snow before them. 

Hunting=horses are made to leap almost 
any obstacle in their way. They are very 
intelligent and obedient to the slightest 
bidding of the rider. 

In Arabia the pedigree of a horse is 
written upon parchment. Some horses' 
genealogies extend back for nearly two 
thousand years. The teacher vv^ill find the 
story of "Gallopoff, or the Talking Pony/' 
by Tudor Jenks (Henry Altemus) a very 
delightful story to read in the classroom. 
Two little girls are given a pony, which 
much to their surprise is able to talk and 
also to do many tricks, since at one time it 
was a member of a circus. 

Stories About Horses : In "St. Nich- 
olas," Vol, 22, page 719, James Baldwin tells 



Lesson VI 43 

a story of Oliver Goldsmith and the steed 
that he once refused to accept. We all 
know what a hard time Oliver had as a 
young man : 

"He had just finished his studies at college, and his 
folks wanted him to become a parson ; but Oliver, not car- 
ing for this calling, not liking to wear a wig and dress in 
black all the time, on the day that he was to be ordained, 
walked in before the bishop in scarlet breeches and the 
brightest buckles. The bishop refused to ordain him, 
and then Oliver went as a private tutor to a wealthy 
family. Here also he did not seem to please, and a quar- 
rel ensued in which Oliver was to blame. With the 
money that he had thus far earned, Oliver decided to go 
to the city of Cork and set sail for America. He had 
thirty pounds in his pocket, and after getting passage he 
went about the town. He was good of heart, and ready 
to relieve every distress, and his money gradually dwin- 
dled. The sailing of the ship was put off from day to 
day, until finally Oliver, going down to the wharf, dis- 
covered that a wind had suddenly come up and the vessel 
had sailed without him. Oliver did not take disappoint- 
ments heavily, and he prepared to return to his mother. 
He bought a pony named Fiddleback, and mounting it, 
with just five shillings in his pocket, he started in his 
fine clothes. Then a poor woman met him and asked 
him for money, and he gave her most of what he had, for 
he was very near a friend of his, and he thought that he 
could get assistance from this friend, but again he was 
doomed to disappointment. 

" Scarcely a mouthful of food did he offer him, and 
when Oliver told him of the strait into which he had 
fallen, he gave him little sympathy. 



44 Teachers' Manual 

" ' Go,' he said, ' and sell your nag, and I will give you 
a horse that will serve you well.' Then he got an old 
oak walking-stick and said, 'Here is a horse for you.' 
Oliver became very angry at this, hut he forebore doing 
his supposed friend any great harm". A week later, 
astride Fiddleback, half starved, Oliver reached his 
mother." 

The same author tells the story of Helios, 
the famed charioteer, driving the chariot 
of the sun. See^"St. Nicholas," Vol. 23, 
page 576, He also wrote a series of articles 
on horses for "St. Nicholas" published 
during the year 1895. (See, for example, his 
articles on the "Dancing Horse of Sybans," 
page 625 ; ' ' Babieca, the War Horse of the 
Cid, " page 841 ; " Bayard, " page 998 ; " The 
Ship of the Plains," page 922; "The Steed 
of Alexander," Vol. 26, pp. 385-387, article 
by E. G. House) . These, in connection with 
the stories told in "Black Beauty," will 
form sufficient outside material for the 
teacher to consult concerning this lesson. 

Plionetic§ : Eight words for pronun- 
ciation drill are given; besides which the 
pupil is to sound the vowels in the phonetic 
drill. Take one short sentence in the text 
and with the aid of the vocabulary printed 
in the Appendix put it into phonetic spell- 
ing. Upon slips of paper write out words 



Lesson VI 45 

either in the ordinary spelling to be put 
into phonetic spelling, or in phonetic spell- 
ing to be put into ordinary spelling. Also 
take different words of the text and use 
them in new sentences. The teacher should 
explain the full meaning of such words as 
blinkers, crupper, girth, etc. 

To the Teacher : 

(1) It is hard to teach a child to do hia work, whatever 
it is, carefully and trustfully; but it is a thing worth 
learning how to teach. 

(3) An ignorant, well=meaning teacher often works 
more harm than a malicious, wicked teacher; for the 
former will be trusted often, but the latter will be sus- 
pected and the public will be on its guard. 

(3) We quote a brief extract from Prof. James, " Psy- 
chology ": 

" When a resolve or a fine glow of feeling is allowed to 
evaporate without bearing practical fruit it is w^orse than 
a chance lost. It works so as positively to hinder future 
resolutions and emotions from taking the normal path of 
discharge." 



46 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON VII 



The teacher is referred to "Practical 
Work in the School Room " [Part III, Les- 
sons on Plants; see pages 56 seq.], from 
which the following is condensed : 

The Root : The most important part 
of a root is the neck, which is below the 
stem and leaves. If this is seriously in- 
jured the plant will die. Roots may be 
either primary or secondary, the secondary 
root growing from any part of the stem. 
There are (a) tei^restrial roots, found in 
the ground (the oak) ; (6) aquatic roots, 
not attached to anything, but depending 
upon the food obtained by catching parti- 
cles that pass through the network of root- 
lets ( water =lily ) ; (c) aerial roots (ivy). 
Roots have different shapes: (a) thread- 
like (grass) ; (6) necklace-like, shaped like 
beans; (c) bundle-like, similar to a bunch 
of radishes (buttercup) ; (d) shaped like 
knobs (sweet potato) ; (e) cone-shaped (car- 
rot) ; (/) spindle-shaped (radish) ; {g) 



Lesson VII 47 



turnip-shaped (turnip) ; {h) h7xinch roots 
(tree) ; (i) creeping roots (strawberry) ; 
{j) hulb-shaped (lily). These are the most 
imi^ortant shapes of roots, examples of 
which should be shown in the classroom ; 
have the pupils themselves bring the differ- 
ent plants mentioned. 

In a large city the school=garden of the 
country school dwindles to a box=garden. 
But even with this, practical results may be 
obtained ; plant a series of seeds, so that in 
the gradual growth from the seed to the 
plant, one seed at a time can be sacrificed 
at a stage of its evolution to show, by 
actual observation, what is taking place. 

Stems : {a) The inside-growing stem 
(grasses), scientifically known as endog- 
enous, meaning those stems which have 
the old portion near the surface and the 
new among the old on the inside. (5) 
Outside-growing stem (oak) ; here the new 
portion is near the surface and the old por- 
tion near the center. The stem grows 
from the outside, next to and inside the 
bark, and scientifically is called exogenous. 

The Stem Described: The node is 
the part of a stem from which a leaf grows. 
The interiiode is the part of a stem between 



48 Teachers' Manual 

two nodes. Steins may (1) stand (rose); 
(2) spread (weeping willow) ; (3) ascend ; 
(4) climb (ivy) ; (5) lie prostrate (cucum- 
ber) ; (6) trail (poison4vy) ; (7) creep 
(strawberry). 

Leaves : The parts to be studied are : 
{a) blade, (5) stem, (c) stalk, {d) stipules, 
(e) sheath, (/) ligule. 

In the study of plants the teacher should 
see that the pupils note : 

(a) Whether the leaves are opposite each 
other on the stem, or alternate on the stem, 
or placed around the stem in a whorl, or 
tufted, or overlapped; (t>) the color of the 
leaves; (c) veins on leaf. 

A few characteristics of the leaf that 
will distinguish it immediately are as fol- 
lows: 

(a) Kinds of bases ; (b) kinds of apexes ; 
(c) surface of leaves; (d) margins of 
leaves. 

To the Teacher : Nothing impresses 
a child more than actually seeing what is 
described, and in the shapes of the leaves 
he will take great pleasure in drawing the 
outlines. Where pressed leaves are shown, 
the teacher should trace the shape on paper, 
and cut out the outline ; then let each pupil 



Lesson VII 49 



have one of the outlines thus cut, and in 
turn trace the shape of the leaf. The pat- 
tern may be drawn either on ordinary wri- 
ting-paper or on cardboard, which will give 
stability to the sample. 

Literature : ( 1 ) " Chapters in Natural 
History," Sir John Lubbock. Attention is 
called to the sections on flowers and insects, 
plants and insects, and fruits and seeds. 

(2) "Flowers and Their Friends," Mar- 
garet W. Morley (Ginn & Company). The 
teacher is referred to : 

(a) "The Flower"; (h) "The Calyx"; 
(c) "The Leaves"; (d) "The Cells": (e) 
"The Pollen=Cells"; (/) "Chlorophyll"; 
(g) "Root=Cells"; (h) " Skin= Cells " • (0 
i' Tube=Cells " ; (j) "We and the Plant 
People" [showing the difference between 
human beings and plants]; (k) "What 
Becomes of the Flowers. " 

Experiments in Treating of 
Plant = JLife : By simple experiments, 
show how a plant obtains its food ; how it 
is affected by the light; how it breathes, 
etc. For example, in Coulter's "Plant Re- 
lations, First Book of Botany" (D. Apple- 
ton & Company), note the experiments on 
page 31. One is suggested, showing how 

4 



50 



Teachers' Manual 



the leaf gives off moisture, which could be 
easily used in the classroom : 

"If a glass vessel (bell jar) be inverted over a small 
active plant, the moisture is seen to condense on the glass 
and even to trickle down the sides. A still more conve- 
nient way to demonstrate this is to select a single vigorous 
leaf with a good petiole; pass the petiole through a per- 




forated cardboard resting upon a tumbler containing 
water and invert a second tumbler over the blade of the 
leaf which projects above the cardboard. It will be 
observed that moisture given off from the surface of the 
working leaf is condensed on the inner surface of the 
inverted tumbler. The cardboard is to shut off evapora- 
tion from the water in the lower tumbler. 



Lesson VII 51 



" When the amount of water given off by a single leaf 
is noted, some vague idea may be formed as to the 
amount of moisture given off by a great mass of vegeta- 
tion such as a meadow or a forest " (page 32). 

Practical Experiments : In the New 

York Tribune was published an article en- 
titled "East=Side Gardening," from which 
we quote as follows: 

" The juvenile company were on hand yesterday ... at 
the De Witt Clinton playgrounds. The tent was erected 
and plowing began, and it looked as if there would 
really be a garden in time. A plot 125' x 100' will be 
plowed, and a small portion given to each child who will 
cultivate it. If he neglects it, the bed will be given to 
some one else. 

" The vegetable=garden idea was a development of 
Mrs. Henry Parsons' plant club. . . . Mrs. Parsons' idea 
is that the children study nature theoretically in the 
schools, but know practically nothing of the relation of 
the soil to the plant. She wants them to find out for them- 
selves what must be done to make the plant grow, and to 
that end she would like to see gardening a regular part 
of the summer=8Chool curriculum. Vacant lots and the 
roofs of schoolhouses are being utilized for the purpose." 

Pronunciation I>rill : The teacher 
should emphasize the obscure sounds, lay- 
ing particular stress upon the variant or 
intermediate sounds such as the g sound in 
branch, the e in cluster. 

Phonetic Drill : This contains exam- 
ples of the " A, " ^ ' E, " and " I " sounds. The 



52 Teachers* Manual 

teacher should drill upon other words 
used, phonetic spellings of which may be 
found in the vocabulary placed in the 
appendix of the Reader. 

For a phonetic sentence take ' ' The tree= 
trunk is covered with thick bark." 

Drill individually upon every sound, 
both vowel and consonant. Also write 
sentences phonetically upon the board. It 
would be well to have occasionally phonetic 
reviews in the form of games. On slips of 
paper place words in phonetic spelling and 
in ordinary spelling. Deal these slips out 
to the pupils. Give about a dozen slips 
to each pupil. For every slip correctly 
sounded or correctly answered, one point 
should be credited to the pupil, about 
twenty =five points forming a game. 

Story : Let the teacher tell the follow- 
ing story to the pupils : 

Once upon a time to the palace of the King there came 
a fairy so small that to see him one had to look at him 
through a magnifying^glass. It was near spring-time, 
and this little man would visit place after place, going 
into the garden to see that everything was in readiness 
for the coming of spring. Now in this palace of the 
King there lived a gardener who was very jealous of his 
rights, and thought that there were none who knew 
better what to do for his plants than himself. So when 



Lesson VII 53 



he heard of the arrival of the fairy he was wroth indeed, 
and stormed around his room, declaring that if he ever 
caught sight of the little manikin he would run him 
from the palace grounds; yes, even from the kingdom 
itself. One morning the gardener rose, putting the 
wrong foot out of bed. Oh, he was in a very bad 
humor, indeed! And he said to himself, "To-morrow 
will be spring, and I know that this little fairy will try 
to put in his work to*day, so," quoth the gardener, pick- 
ing up a large magnifying»glass and putting it in his 
pocket, " I shall be on the lookout for the little fellow." 
Down the hall he went, and opened a large door that led 
from the great house to the garden. Such a beautiful 
garden it was, the flower-beds laid out in the shape of 
stars-, and moons, and half =moons ! The gardener picked 
up his rake and hoe, and started to work, sprinkling 
seed here and there. Soon he was surprised to hear a 
wee voice call : 

"How do you do, Mr. Gardener, and are you getting 
ready for spring to«morrow? If so, you had better let 
me help you." 

"Oh," roared the gardener, getting red in the face, 
" where are you? " 

" Right here," said the little fairy perched upon a seed 
at the gardener's feet. 

The gardener took his magnifying»glass, got down on 
his knees, and looked all around until finally he hap- 
pened to spy the little fairy, who was hard at work, dig- 
ging a resting place for the seed upon which he stood. 
Then the gardener got still more angry, and called out 
in a voice that almost made the little seed roll over: 
"Now I have you, meddlesome little man, and I shall 
throw you over the garden wall into the moat below." 

"Not so fast, Mr. Gardener," came the little voice, 
"for you will never be able to catch me." 



54 Teachers Manual 

"Never!" said the gardener. "Why, here you are, 
and here is my hand, and I have you now." 

"With that the gardener made a grab, but to his great 
surprise out from the ground there popped a little blade 
of green which, instead of standing still, ran along the 
ground in and out among the furrows, trailing here and 
there, catching hold of the trunks of trees and running 
up the trunks in and out among the branches, down 
again to the ground, over the garden wall, back again to 
the gardener's feet, and finally this growing vine began 
to twine around the gardener himself, over his bodj% 
around his shoulders, down his arms, here and there 
jumping to his legs and binding the gardener so fast 
that he could not move. 

" Oh, dear me! " called the gardener. " What shall I 
do?" 

" Listen to me," said the wee voice of the little man 
who sat upon a leaf that almost tickled the gardener's 
nose. " Listen to me," he said. "In the future if you 
will promise to be kind to those who would help you 
and not haughty because you think you know every- 
thing, I will let you go. Now you are my prisoner, and ' 
he who boasts of what he can do will at length have a 
fall in pride just as you have had now. I am the mes- 
senger of spring, and you would not hear me. I am the 
messenger of spring, and you tried to kill me. It was 
spring who saved me, for on the point of the vine that 
ran along the ground I sat and you did not see me. To» 
morrow will be spring, and I have to do all my work be- 
fore the stroke of twelve to-night. Will you help me? 
Mr. Gardener, suppose we work together and to*morrow 
you will see what can be accomplished by two persons 
who work in harmony and do not quarrel." 

So it was that in the King's garden that day more work 
was done by the gardener than he had ever done before, 



Lesson VIII 55 



and the King was surprised on the next day, and he said 
to the gardener, " Right royally shall you be rewarded, 
most faithful servant, for the wonderful work you have 
done. So to=day is the beginning of spring, and where 
the snow once hid the garden-path, where the dry twigs 
once were freighted with ice, now I see the tender green 
and the delicate colors of coming flowers, and it is all 
your work, most skilful gardener." The gardener 
bowed and hemmed and hawed, but he did not say a 
word about the little fairy. He went back to his work, 
and the little fairy went away and did not come again 
until the next year. 



LESSON VIII 



The LiCSSon : There are no particu- 
lar flowers upon which stress is to be laid. 
However, the following topics have been 
mentioned for which material is given; 
(1) buttercup; (2) dandelion; (3) rose; 
(4) daisy; (5) a review of material in 
the preceding lesson; (6) calyx; (7) co- 
rolla; (8) stamen; (9) pistil. 

The diagram showing the corolla, sta- 
men, and pistil of a flower, as mentioned in 
the text and as given at the bottom of the 
color=page of the Reader, should be repro 



56 Teachers' Manual 

duced upon the board by the teacher, for 
ready reference. 

Every complete blossom contains the es- 
sential organs, the stamen and pistil, with 
the calyx and the corolla. There are 
other flowers that do not contain all of 
these parts, and these flowers are called in- 
complete. The stamen consists of two 
parts : the filament and the anther, which 
contains the pollen. The pistil consists of 
three parts ; the stigma, the style, and the 
ovary, which contains the ovule. These 
parts may be understood by consulting the 
diagram. From ' ' Practical Work in the 
School Room," the following is quoted: 

'•'Calyx. Lead the pupils to notice the outside part of 
one of the flowers (page 91), its shape and color, and 
then give them its name. 

'■' Cm^olla. Next they notice the beautiful showy part 
most attractive to the eye, the ground or corolla, and 
refer to its color in different flowers. But few of them 
have seen green flowers, so they rightly decide that 
corollas are seldom green. We teach them that in books 
about flowers colored means every color but green, in- 
cluding white. 

'■'■Stamens. Taking off the calyx and the corolla leaves 
the stamens exposed to view. The children notice that 
these resemble threads; hence may be described as 
threadlike parts. . . . 

^'■Pistils. The stamens are removed; the pupils see 
the remaining part and observe its position in the center 



Lesson VIII 57 



of the flower. We ask what their elder brothers use on 
the 4th of July and receive the ready reply: A pistol. 
Thi^ name is written on the board and beneath it the 
wordi pistil., so nearly similar in sound and in spelling, 
: but so different in its meaning — the essential part of the 
flower. The children study calyx, corolla, stamen, and 
pistil until thoroughly familiar with each term." 

This little book on "Object Lessons on Plants, Part 
III," is published by A. Lovell & Company, and the 
teacher should procure a copy of it for schoolroom use. 

In Mrs. L. L. Wilson's "Nature Study in 
Elementary Schools, Teachers' Manual" 
(The Macmillan Company), a diagram and 
certain suggestions as to how to study the 
different parts of a plant are given (pages 
18, 19, 34, 35). 

The Buttercup : The common but- 
tercup of the meadows is described by 
Neltje Blanchan in her "Nature's Garden" 
(Doubleday, Page & Company). It is a 
bright shining yellow, about one inch 
across ; the stem stands erect, is branched 
above and hairy, two to three feet tall. It 
is easily found in meadows, fields, by road- 
sides, and in grassy places, and flowers 
from May to September ; most common in 
the north of the United States. 

Neltje Blanchan writes : 

"The glitter of the buttercup, which is as nothing to 
-he glitter of a gold dollar in the eyes of a practical 



58 Teachers' Manual 

farmer, fills him with wrath when this immigrant takes 
possession of his pastures. Cattle will not eat the acrid, 
caustic plant — a sufficient reason for most members of 
the EanunculacecR to stoop to the low trick of secreting 
poisonous or bitter juices. Self-preservation leads a 
cousin, the garden monk'S'hood, even to murderous 
practises. Since children will put everything within 
reach into their mouths, they should be warned against 
biting the buttercup's stem and leaves, that are capable 
of raising blisters " (pages 292 seq.). 

The Dandelion : From "Familiar 
Flowers of Field and G-arden," F. Schuyler 
Mathews (D. Appleton & Company), the 
following is gleaned : 

The dandelion is a rich golden flower 
transplanted from Europe, and it is com- 
mon in pastures and fields, blooming from 
April to September. 

"A dandelion placed under the magnifying^glass is one 
of the grandest studies in gold and yellow that can be 
imagined.'" (See Lowell's poem beginning " Dear com- 
mon flower that grow'st beside the way.") 

Neltje Blanchan in her "Nature's Gar- 
den" writes that the dandelion is one to 
two inches across; contains one hundred 
and fifty to two hundred perfect ray florets ; 
leaves runcinate; blooms in lawns, fields, 
and grassy waste |)laces. Its root pene- 
trates very far down into the earth. 



Lesson VIII 59 



" Quantities of small bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and 
beetles— over a hundred species of insects— come seeking 
the nectar, that wells up in each little tube, and the abun- 
dant pollen, which are greatly appreciated in early 
spring, when food is so scarce " (pages 342 seq.). 

Comparison : In the season in which 
these two flowers bloom, have the children 
bring them to the classroom and examine 
them carefully. Let them note the differ- 
ence : first, in color ; second, in shape ; third, 
in leaves ; fourth, in petals, etc. Talk about 
the flower and analyze it, emphasizing the 
difference between tearing a flower to 
pieces for the sake of knowing something 
about it, and tearing it to pieces thought- 
lessly, simply for the sake of tearing. 

Children will take great delight also in 

gathering flowers and pressing them in 

such a way that particular parts will be 

preserved for future examination. A schools 

1 book of specimens could in this way be pre- 

i pared, compiled by the children, to be ex- 

I hibited to the parents on certain days. 

I Acute Observation : 

, "The school should be to the pupil," writes Felix 

j Adler, "not an intelligent drill»ground, but a second 

home, a place dear at the time and remembered ever 

after, a place in which the whole future, and especially 

j what is best in the pupil himself, may expand and grow," 



60 Teachers Manual 

This is an important point to bear in 
mind in the teaching of nature lessons. 
Nature is not planless, and those who have 
eyes and see not miss most of the joy of 
outdoors. The child should be made to 
feel that observation, acute observation, re- 
sults in a pleasure that is keenly alive to 
the slightest variations. Each child should 
be given an opportunity to see the flowers 
mentioned in the text or drawn in the color= 
picture. Outline=drawings, with indica- 
tions of the chief parts of a plant, should be 
shown to the pupils. After the parts have 
been sketched upon the board, the pupils 
should draw on paper the shape of the part 
being described ; in this way they will ob- 
tain an intimate knowledge of what is be- 
ing talked about. 

Phonetics : Pronunciation of difficult 
words in the text should have careful drill ; 
the words should be analyzed sound by 
sound and grouped, as before suggested, 
according to some sound common to the 
group. The meaning of each word should 
be understood, and the word should be used 
in short sentences. When the word Es- 
kimo is reached, tell something of Eskimo 
children and the life in the North. The 



Lesson VIII 61 



teacher should consult the book entitled 
"Little Folks of Many Lands," Miln 
(Charles Scribner's Sons), and for her own 
use, the general atmosphere of the north- 
ern country may be found in Jack Lon- 
don's novel, ' ' The Daughter of the Snows " 
(D. Appleton & Company). On a map 
show how far it is from Africa to Labrador. 

Defiiiitioii§ : The pupils should not 
memorize sounds, but should understand 
the meaning of each word, to be used in 
special sentences. In this lesson the dic- 
tionary idea is suggested, in defining such 
words as calyx, corolla, etc., based on the 
Introductory Standard Dictionary of the 
Standard Series. This idea should be used 
sparingly, but should he used. Explain 
what a dictionary is. Have the pupils turn 
to a dictionary and find the different words 
occurring in the text. The teacher might 
place a few words on the board with sim- 
ple definitions, which could be used in 
sentences. 

Readings : It has been suggested that 
it the beginning of each lesson the teacher 
:ead the text and then discuss with the 
3upils the different points found therein, 
^fter this the pronunciation drills should 



62 Teachers Manual 

be used in connection with whatever pho- 
netic suggestions are given. As soon as 
the child's interest is aroused, have the dif- 
ferent words of the text sounded, and then, 
with occasional aid from the teacher, the 
pupil may read the text himself, not in a 
verbal-memory way, but with the direct 
force of understanding. 



LESSON IX 



The Poem : This piece, by John Ken- 
drick Bangs, is given to be memorized. 
Read it to the child; then talk about the 
picture. After a number of readings, the 
piece will be remembered by the pupil. 
The teacher must see, however, that this 
does not degenerate into mere verbal mem- 
ory. More and more is emphasized the 
fact that meaning, understanding, result in 
culture. 

The text has likewise been put in pho- 
netics, not for the pupil to read so much 
as for him to reach the correct pronuncia- 



Lesson IX 63 

tion of the different words, according to 
our system of phonetic indication. 

Phonetic Text : Each word is to be 
analyzed in the same way as has heretofore 
been suggested. The different words with 
common sounds should be arranged in col- 
umns upon the board, and wherever a sys- 
tem may be adopted in the presentation of 
these sounds, giving the same unity as sug- 
gested in the arrangement of the long, 
short, and variant vowel sounds, the teacher 
will find it of great help in making clearer 
the phonetic symbols. That the Scientific 
Alphabet will meet with much opposition 
from those who are wedded to the old sys- 
tem is to be expected, but to a fair=minded 
person who examines the system well, it 
will be found that it is by far the easiest 
as well as the most logical system that is 
now in use. 

Paper^Folding : The diagram, as 
given on page 28 of the Reader, shows 
how, with five foldings of a piece of paper, 
a five=pointed star is made. The teacher 
should give to the children paper that is 
folded without being easily torn. A per- 
fect square as indicated in Fig. 1 should 
be cut out by the child and folded exactly 



64 Teachers' Manual 



in half, as shown in Fig. 2. The point h 
shown in Fig. 2 should he brought over to 
the diagonal line running from the line ah 
to an opposite comer of the diagram ; the 
result will be as shown in Fig. 3. In 
Fig. 3 the point indicated by the letter c 
should be brought over to the point h, as in 
Fig. 4. The point a as indicated in Fig. 4 
should now be folded on the opposite side, 
the result being shown in Fig. 5. The 
dotted line starting midway between a and 
d of Fig. 5 indicates where the paper should 
be cut, the lower portion forming the star. 
The teacher should herself make this 
paper star several times before showing it 
to the pupils. And when she does use it 
in the classroom, it should be used with 
some system, so that there will be no con- 
fusion while the work is going on. If the 
children find it difficult to make, the teacher 
should give as much attention to each child 
as the time will warrant. When this star 
has been made many times, the teacher, if 
she possesses a Standard First Reader, 
should turn to page 42 and make the paper 
boat therein indicated by a diagram, and 
described in the Teachers' Manual accom- 
panying the book. 



Lesson X 65 

''St. Nicholas" Magazine contains full 
directions for making paper boxes. By con- 
sulting the cumulative index, the teacher 
will be able to procure from some library 
back numbers of this book for reference. 



LESSON X 



Conduction : This is the first lesson 
based on elementary physics. It has been 
selected because it may be easily demon- 
strated in the classroom. The term con- 
duction is used in physics, but to the 
child the teacher should say that the les- 
son is one telling how heat passes throvigh 
objects with which it comes in contact. 
The child should be told that the source of 
all terrestrial heat is the sun; here is a 
good opportunity to draw upon the board 
a diagram of the earth and of the earth's 
orbit around the sun, showing how the 
quantity of heat reaching the earth changes 
from time to time, resulting in a change 
of season. 

We know that a spoon placed in a flame 
will soon become hot, and we know it is 

5 



66 Teachers' Manual 

hot when we can no longer hold the part 
that is heated. If we take a glass rod that 
is cold and put it in the flame, we can hold 
it for some time. If we place an iron rod 
in the flame, we can hold it, but not quite as 
long as we held the glass rod. A brass rod 
will become hot very soon after being 
placed in the flame. 

A child while these experiments are be- 
ing shown must be impressed with the fact 
that he is learning something and is not 
playing with fire. 

The Apparatus : A simple apparatus 
could be constructed by the teacher for 
showing the experiment. Take a box and 
have three holes bored in it on both sides 
just large enough to allow three rods of 
equal size and length to slip in. Around 
the edges of these holes, it would be well 
to place some non=conducting material, as 
cork ; if the rods were placed next to the 
wood when heated, the wood might catch 
fire. On the end of each rod stick a wax 
ball; take three spirit=lamps or Bunsen 
burners and place one under the free end 
of each rod. To see the results, let the pu- 
pils stand before that side of the box which 
shows the wax balls. To test whether the 



Lesson X 67 

text has been thoroughly understood ask 
the following questions : 

(1) Which wax ball do you think will drop off first? 

(2) Why will it drop off first? 

(3) If we place a flame at one end of a rod, why is it 
that we do not have to place a flame at the other end of 
the rod to make that end hot also ? 

(4) If the waz ball on the brass rod drops off first what 
does that show? 

When the experiment has been shown to 
the pupils, explain to them that because 
heat travels so rapidly in copper and iron 
they are called good conductors, the word 
conductors meaning carriers of heat. The 
glass, because of the long time it takes for 
heat to travel through it, is called a bad 
conductor. 

From "Science Readers, Book V," by 
Vincent T. Murche (Macmillan & Com- 
pany), we quote the following: 

" The metals are the best conductors of all, but they 
differ very much one from the other. They stand thus 
in the order of their conducting power: — Silver, copper, 
gold, brass, tin, iron, lead, platinum, and bismuth — sil- 
ver being the best. Among the bad conductors are:— 
Marble, stone, brick, glass, earthenware, sealing»wax, 
leather, wood, linen, cotton, and straw. 

"The non-conductors include bone, horn, feathers, 
down, fur, wool, flannel, silk, hair, cork, india-rubber, 
and air." 



68 Teachers' Manual 

Air is thus the poorest medium through 
which heat can pass. If air were a good 
conductor we should all burn up because 
of the sun's heat. 

Explain to the pupil that through simple 
observation of what actually happens some 
of the greatest discoveries have been made. 
Through the boiling of water in a teakettle 
the steam=engine was gradually evolved. 
So Franklin discovered the principles of 
the lightning=rod by means of a kite. 

Phonetic Drill : The meaning of each 
word in the pronunciation drill is to be 
understood, and to be used in a sentence. 
The phonetic drill is to be upon the first 
line of words in phonetic spelling, contain- 
ing "I," "O," and "U" sounds. The sec- 
ond line has miscellaneous sounds. The 
phonetic sentence should be taken and each 
sound thoroughly analyzed. All silent let- 
ters are preceded by a half ^parenthesis ; 
in such words as fire, the ai diphthong 
should not be treated fully, as it will be 
given in a future lesson. 

To the Teacher : From "Psychology 
in the Class Room," Dexter and Garlick 
(Longmans, Green & Company), the fol- 
lowing is quoted : 



Lesson X 69 

" Variety is an important factor in the culivation of 
the attention, but the teacher must be discreet as to its 
use. It is a bad plan in an object-lesson to have a table 
crowded with attractive objects. Those objects not in 
immediate use should be kept out of sight. The aim 
should be to prolong the act of involuntary attention; 
the object should not be discarded until its most salient 
features have been observed and discussed by the class. 
The teacher must 'beware of the peep-show order of 
excitement,' in which so many things are seen that prac- 
tically nothing is seen at all. Variety can, however, be 
usefully employed in the sequence of lessons. When 
attention of oue kind (say to sights) is getting wearied, 
the attention of another kind (say to sounds) may be 
evoked and retained. The attention may flag at the end 
of an arithmetic lesson, yet the singing lesson which suc- 
ceeds will arouse and maintain it " (page 43). 



(1) Progress means give more and more rest to the body 
and more employment to the minds of the millions. 

(2) After getting all suggestions possible the teacher 
should weave her own theory, thread by thread, out of 
her experience m the schoolroom. 

(3) One should go to school to learn to use his eyes, 
his hands, his ears; to compare things, to form judg- 
ments, to adapt ends to means. 

(4) No education will ever be secured except by th« 
consent of the pupil. 



70 Teachers' Mamial 



LESSON XI 



A review of three of the vowels with 
their long, short, and variant sounds is here 
given. Take np each vowel sound and 
treat the long vowels as a prolongation of 
the short vowels without any change in the 
positions of the vocal organs. The words 
are in most cases found in the texts of the 
preceding lessons. 

This review could be treated as a game : 
(1) Make a list of about ten words con- 
taining examples of the long and short 
vowel sounds; place these upon a black- 
board and have a pupil come to the board 
and in a parenthesis next to the word write 
the symbol representing the vowel sound 
that is most important; where there are 
more than one vowel sound have these also 
placed in a parenthesis ; for example in the 
word after, the a and the er should be placed 
with their correct diacritical marks next to 
the word itself. (2) Upon about twenty=five 
cards place words containing examples of 



Lesson XII 71 

long and short vowel sounds; have these 
cards placed face downward in the middle 
of a table ; the pnpils arranged around the 
table take turns in drawing from the pack 
one card at a time. If A sounds the vowel 
correctly, the card is taken by A; then 
should B not recognize the sound assigned 
him, the card that B has is passed to C ; if 
the sound is correctly given by C, he claims 
the card, and so on around the table. After 
the twenty =five cards have been used, the 
pupil who has the most cards wins the game. 



LESSON XII 



Trees : In accordance with the unity of 
the different lessons in this Reader, the 
study of trees is begun with those whose 
fmit furnishes food to man. The diagrams 
showing the important parts of the tree 
should be carefully studied both by pupils 
and teacher, and the outlines of the leaves, 
the general appearance of the tree, and the 
way the leaves grow on the stem carefully 
noted. In the city the teacher should take 



72 Teachers Manual 

the class to the parks and study the differ- 
ent trees. In suburban towns or in the 
country, opportunities are at hand every 
minute of the day to make the nature les- 
sons vital and understandable. Map out 
talks with the children and let them draw 
the nuts of the special trees in outline 
upon the board. Crack the nuts and show 
the children the way in which the meat of 
the nut is placed in the shell. Besides em- 
phasizing the characteristics of each leaf 
separately, compare the leaves of two or 
more of the trees, having the child tell in 
what way they differ in shape. 

The teacher should not wait until the 
lesson hour to plan her lesson, nor should 
she rely wholly upon the material pre- 
sented in the Teachers' Manual. 

Stories : Let the teacher talk about the 
way in which the squirrels store nuts in 
the different trees or in the ground for the 
winter months (see John Burroughs' "The 
Squirrel and Other Fur^Bearers," Hough- 
ton, Mifflin & Company). 

Phonetics : Select from the text any 
words which you believe to be confusing to 
the child in pronunciation and also in mean- 
ing. After sounding them phonetically use 



Lesson XII 73 

the words in sentences. If time permits, 
take several sentences in the text and put 
them into phonetic spelling, in the same 
way as was indicated in previous lessons. 

The Trees: From "Familiar Trees," 
by F. S. Mathews (D. Appleton & Com- 
pany), the following has been selected: 

" The fact is, a tree is built up far more by the sun and 
the atmosphere than it is by the soil from which it 
grows. In the delicate structure of the leaf, which, upon 
close examination, we will see is composed of a compli- 
cated network of nervelike 'veins,' carbonic^acid gas 
is broken up into carbon, which is retained by the tree to 
form its woody structure, and into oxygen, which is lib- 
erated and passes into the atmosphere. Each leaf, there- 
fore, is a builder and an air^regulator of a nature which 
is beneficial to us. Its capacity for heat and sunshine is 
something astonishing. I have estimated that a certain 
6ugar=maple of large proportions, which grows near my 
cottage, puts forth in one season about four hundred and 
thirty=two thousand leaves; these leaves combined pre- 
sent a surface to sunlight of about twenty=one thousand 
six hundred square feet, or an area equal to pretty nearly 
half an acre. Every inch of this expanse breathes in life 
for the tree, and out health for man, while it absorbs in 
the aggregate an enormous amount of heat and sunlight. 
In time of rain it also holds the moisture, and allows it 
to evaporate by slow degrees when hot days return. The 
forests are vast sponges, which, through the agency of 
leaves, soak up the beneficent raindrops and compel 
them to pass slowly through shaded channels to the 
parched lands beyond. It is, indeed, quite impossible to 
overestimate the value of the billions and billions of 



74 Teachers' Manual 

leaves which work and build for the benefit of humanity. 
Only forty per cent, of a tree is utilized by the woods- 
man; the pity of it is that the waste is so fearfully out of 
proportion to the gain. I do not say that a waste of leaves 
is a very serious loss, but I do say that a wanton destruc- 
tion of more than half the tree, with its thousands of 
leaf'workers, is inexcusably careless" (pages 15-16). 

Food=Tree§ : 

SUGAK=MAPLB. 

Name.— Maple (Sugar). Acer saccharum. 

Family. — Soapberry. 

Species.— Sugar. 

Height.— Often 120 feet. 

Distribution. — Throughout eastern North America, 

Bark. — Dark, deep longitudinal furrows, shaggy. 

Color of wood. — Light brown tinged with red. 

Description of wood.— Heavy, hard, strong, tough, 
close=grained, capable of fine polish. 

Use of wood.— Interior furnishings of buildings, furni- 
ture, fuel. 

Shape of leaf. — 3 to 5 inches long and of greater 
breadth; base, heart=shaped by narrow sinus or truncate 
or wedge. 

Color of leaf. — Bright or dark green. 

Color of leaf in autumn,— Crimson, orange,clear yellow. 

Time of flowering. — May. 

Fruit.— Two samaras; called also keys. 

The maple is one of our finest trees, 
often rising in the forest without putting 
forth a single branch until one hundred 
and twenty feet above the leaves spread 
out. The foliage is very dense. Harriet 



Lesson XII 75 

L. Keeler, in her book "Our Native Trees" 
(Charles Scribner's Sons), says: "It has 
learned to labor and to wait. It can grow as 
tall as any of its forest companions, and it 
also knows how to prosper while young, in 
the shade. Consequently, there is always 
a young maple in training, ready to take 
the place of any dead or dying tree." 

The teacher is advised to consult this 
book of Miss Keeler's ; we have used it as 
the basis for our lessons, and many valuable 
suggestions may be gleaned from it other 
than the few facts we give herewith. 

Many authors and poets have called at- 
tention to the brilliant coloring the maple 
gives to our forests during the fall. "It 
glows in red which deepens into crimson, 
it flames in yellow that darkens into or- 
ange. . . . Sometimes a single branch will 
turn bright scarlet while all the rest of the 
tree remains green." (Read on page 70 of 
Miss Keeler's book the interesting discus- 
sion why leaves turn in color and why the 
falling leaves show no wounds on the tree. ) 
" The great leaf =f all of the Northern States 
comes some time between the loth and 25th 
of October." 

There are other members of the maple 



76 Teachers' Manual 

family the teacher may talk of, as the moTiu- 
tain=maple and the silver and red maples. 

Emphasize the industry of maple=sirup 
and sugar=making. 

Maple-^ug'ar : Mr. Mathews, writing 
on the maples, says that the autumnal col- 
oring of the sugar^maple gives it first place 
among beautiful American trees. It has 
foliage of a decidedly rugged character, 
with greenish=yellow flowers ; the seeds are 
winged ; the trunk divides eight or ten feet 
from the ground into three or four 
branches; the leaf is smooth, dark green, 
and glossy. 

"There is a sensitive, if not a human, quality in a 
[sugar*] maple which responds to kindness, and rewards 
the caretaker with an abundance of sugar without in- 
jury to its own life. There are, however, careless and 
ignorant farmers who bore their trees in several places 
at once, or out of season, and as a consequence the ex- 
hausted trees die sooner or later, according to the meas- 
ure of the abuse. To tap a tree in threatening or stormy 
weather, or before the temperate genial warmth which 
is usually brought by the south wind, is considered by 
some sugar^makers an ill-advised proceeding; the 
weather must be neither too hot nor too cold to obtain 
the best flow of sap. 

" The methods employed to=day in the making of sugar 
are quite scientific compared with those in practise 
twenty years ago. A patent evaporator, with an infinite 
length of trough through which the sap flows, now takes 



Lesson XII 77 



the place of the long pan over the bricked=in log fire. 
Also, in place of the wooden tap or spout for the tree, 
a new galvanized iron one (which does not clog up the 
pores) is in common use. The sap is evaporated to a 
certain point in the production of sirup, and it passes 
through a process of still greater evaporation in the 
making of sugar. In my own judgment, the sugar made 
by the old=f ashioned, boiling=»do\\'n method possesses the 
highest and best flavor; but in the market the super=re- 
flned, Iighter=colored sugar made by the patent evapora- 
tors is of course considered much finer, and brings a 
higher price " (page 200). 

The teacher is referred to the following, 

found in "Trees in Prose and Poetry," ed. 

, by Gertrude L. Stoner and M. Grace Fick- 

' ett (Ginn & Company) : 

{ (a) "Maple Leaves," Thomas Bailey Al- 

drich. 

(h) "October Colors," Helen Hunt Jack- 
son. 

(c) "The Legend of the Maple," E. L. 
Ogden, 

(d) " The Maple, " James Russell Lowell. 

(e) ' ' The Red Maple," Henry David Tho- 
reau. 

In her "Nature Studies in Elementary 
Schools" (The Macmillan Company), Mrs. 
L. L. Wilson writes (vid. page 221) : "The 
usual amount of sap given by a tree in a 
season is twenty =five gallons, which yields 



78 Teachers' Manual 

about five pounds of sugar. Formerly the 
sap was boiled in long pans over a bricked= 
in log fire, but nowadays it is put in one 
end of a patent evaporating^machine, and 
comes out at the other as sirup. " 

CHESTNUT 

Name.— Chestnut. Castanea dentata. 

Family.— Beech. 

Species.— Chestnut. 

Height. -100 feet. 

Distribution.- From Maine to Michigan and south to 
Tennessee and northern Alabama. 

Bark. — Grayish brown, divided by shallow, irregular 
fissures into broad, flat ridges. 

Color of wood.— Keddish brown. 

Description of wood. — Light, soft, coarse=graiued, not 
strong, easily split, very durable. 

Use of wood. — Manufacture cheap furniture, interior 
houses, railway=ties, fence^posts, rails. 

Shape of leaf.— 6 to 8 inches long, acute or wedge 
shaped, base coarsely serrate, feather»veined. 

Color of leaf. — Dark green above, shining yellow be- 
neath. 

Color of leaf in autumn.— Kusty yellow. 

Time of flowering.— May. 

Fruit.— Nuts. 

Cbnsult some nature manual, of which 
many are published ; for example : ' ' Hand- 
book of Nature Study," Lange (The Mac- 
millan Company) ; "Nature Study in Ele- 
mentary Schools," Wilson (The Macmillan 
Company), 



Lesson XII 79 



The trees of this part of the beech family 
attain enormous size, and live for many 
years. ''The species has the peculiarity of 
sending forth vigorous shoots from a stump ; 
and these, growing in a sort of brother- 
hood, finally unite into a single tree." 

Among the famous chestnut=trees men- 
tioned by Miss Keeler are: (a) the Tort- 
worth Chestnut=tree in Gloucestershire, 
England, which in the reign of King Ste- 
phen, 1135 A.D., was famous, and is still 
standing ; the Chestnut of a Hundred Horse- 
men on Mt. Etna in Sicily, which has a road 
running through it at the present time. 

A southern species of this tree is found 
in the chinkapin, the nut of which is very 
much smaller than that of the chestnut. 

From ''Practical Forestry" (Orange Judd 
Company) the following is taken: "ISTuts 
[of the American chestnut] smaller, more 
delicate, shell thinner, and kernel much 
finer grain and sweeter than the European. 
The nuts are in great demand in the fall 
and early winter, but are so delicate that 
they soon wither up if kept in a dry place, 
and become moldy if kept in a moist and 
warm one. . . . The wormy and imperfect 
nuts will of course decay, and it is a good 



80 Teachers' Manual 

plan to keep the nuts for a few weeks after 
gathering, and then carefully select the 
good ones before putting away in sand." 

HICKORY 

Name.— Hickory. Carya alba. 

Family. — Walnut. 

Species. — Shellbark. 

Height.— 100 feet. 

Distribution.— Not abundant in New England; readies 
greatest height in Valley of Ohio. 

Bark.— Dark gray, separates into strips, often 3 feet or 
more long, 3 to 8 inches wide, which cling to the trunk, 
usually by the middle, giving it a rough, shaggy appear- 
ance (hence popular name " shagbark '^ or " shellbark "). 

Color of wood. — Light bro\\Ti. 

Description of a^ ood. — Tough, close=grained, and ex- 
tremely elastic. 

Shape of leaf.— 8 to 14 inches long, compound, of 5 
(rarely 7) leaflets. 

Use of wood.— Manufacture agricultural implements, 
carriages, ax'handles; best fuel of American woods. 

Color of leaf.— Bright yellowish green. 

Color of leaf in autumn.— Bright yellow, falling early. 

Time of flowering. — May. 

Fruit.— Nuts. 

The wood is very tough, strong, and 
elastic. "Tough as hickory" became a 
stock phrase among the settlers of this 
country, and President Jackson was called 
"Old Hickory" from the popular estimate 
of his sturdy and unyielding character. It 
is said that the excellence of the American 



Lesson XII 81 



ax is due quite as much to its handle of 
hickory as to the quality of its steel. 

The Indian name for this tree means 
"must be cracked with the teeth." 

From "Practical Forestry" the following, 
is gleaned : 

" The hickory supplies almost every branch of me- 
chanics with tough timber, and it has no superior as far 
as fuel is concerned. All of the trees of this family are 
propagated from the nut. The seedlings may be trans- 
planted when one or two years old." 

WALNUT 

Name. — Walnut. Jitglatis nigra. 

Family. — Walnut. 

Species.— Black. 

Height.— 100 feet. 

Trunk diameter.— 4 to 6 feet. 

Distribution. — Generally distributed; least common in 
Atlantic States ; abundant in the middle Mississippi Valley. 

Bark.— Dark brown; slightly tinged with red; deeply 
divided into broad rounded ridges; broken on the surface 
into thick scales. 

Color of wood.— Dark purplish brown. 

Description of wood.— Hard, close=grained, strong; 
very durable in contact with the soil. 

Use of wood. — Furniture, interior finishings, houses, 
gun-stocks. 

Shape of leaf .— Compound, 1 to 2 feet long; unequally 
pinnate, often equally pinnate. 

Color of leaf.— Bright yellow=green; smooth. 

Color of leaf in autumn.— Bright yellow. 

Time of flowering.— June and July, 

Fruit.— Nuts. 
6 



82 Teachers' Manual 

Miss Keeler calls this one of the grandest, 
most massive trees among our flora. 

"The objection to the tree is that the 
leaves are late in coming out in the spring, 
and fall early in the autumn, so that it 
often stands naked when its neighbors are 
apparently in full leaf; moreover, it is the 
host of many caterpillars. " 

The wood is far superior to the European 
species, but the nut is not as fine. 

^ug^ge§tioii for Tree Study : The 
following ideas tabulated should be taken 
up by the teacher in the order given : 

Leaf: 1. Venation. 

2. Form. 

3. Apex. 

4. Marginal indentations. 

5. Base. 

6. How joined to stem ; position as 

alternate, etc. 
Floiver: 1. Individual flower. 

2. In clusters. 
Fruit: 1. How grows on stem. 
2. Longitudinal section. 
Wood: 1. Longitudinal section. 

2. Showing sap=wood, bark, 
heart=wood, and rays. 
Root: 1. Tap=root. 



Lesson XIII 83 



Stem: 1. How joined to leaf. 



o, 



How joined to branch. 



LESSON XIII 



The child has now reached an age when 
stories concerning the making of this coun- 
try will be of interest and of profit as 
elementary study in history. The text 
deals with the landing of the Pilgrim 
Fathers. The reverent spirit that prompted 
the Pilgrims should be emphasized. The 
picture shows the Pilgrims, after having 
landed, in the devout attitude of thankful- 
ness. This picture should be contrasted 
with the picture of King Arthur's men of 
the Round Table, where there is more of a 
martial than of a religious spirit mani- 
fested. Consult "The Beginnings of New 
England," John Fiske (Houghton, Mifflin 
& Company) ; ' ' The Puritans in New Eng- 
land," Thomas W. Higginson [Atlantic 
Essay] (Houghton, Mifflin & Company). 

"Holy=Days and Holidays," Edward M. 
Deems (Funk & Wagnalls Company), con- 



84 Teachers' Manual 



^EiBi 



tains a department, "Forefathers' Day" 
(Dec. 21), from which the following are 
selected : 

(a) The editor writes : 

" The day itself, December 21, celebrates particularly 
the landing of the Puritan Pilgrims at Plymouth, Mass., 
December 21, 1620, and was at first brought into promi- 
nence in New England and in the Congregational 
churches throughout the country. While it is in no state 
a legal holiday, Forefathers' Day is, nevertheless, loved 
and revered in many states of the Union, and the event 
which it commemorates is lauded and memorialized in 
schools, in public meetings, and at banquets and other 
functions both private and public." 

{h) From "In Pilgrim Youth," Priscilla 
Leonard, the following is quoted : 

" Practically, one goes to Plymouth by train from Bos- 
ton, and lands in the side<=streets of the modern town. 
But historically one must land at Plymouth Rock. It 
may be that Mary Chilton did not step first upon it, but 
it is the beginning of New England history none the less. 
It may also be that the Pilgrim Fathers themselves did 
not first land there, but anchored the Mayflower for a 
month instead in the harbor of what is now Province- 
town, Cape Cod, while they explored the coast for a 
suitable place to settle. These are shocks to the lover of 
tradition, but they do not hinder the fact that Fore- 
fathers' Roek is a foundation=stone of American liberty. 
It is also something of a shock to find that Plymouth 
Rock is very small and retiring in appearance. It is 
the only bit of stone apparently for miles around. Far 
out on the outer face of Manomet, south of the entrance 



Lesson XIII 85 



to the harbor, the 'breaking waves' may occasionally 
' dash high ' against the rocks, but everywhere else the 
beach is a low, long, level stretch of yellow-gray sand, 
and the wide, shallow bay is as pretty and peaceful as 
possible. Still, tho the coast was not rockbound, it must 
have been f reezingly cold and bleak when the ' band of 
exiles ' moored their bark there ; and, indeed, we are 
told that the first exploring party was nearly frozen on 
Clark's Island; so that the faith and courage of the Pil- 
grims was quite enough tried. 

" Plymouth. Eock, by the way, would be exceedingly 
difficult to land upon nowadays, because it is quite a dis- 
tance from the water. It is the real historic rock, how- 
ever, and the sea must have lapped its sides in those 
long»ago days, because Elder Thomas Faunce, of Dux- 
bury, in 1741 (being then a man of ninety=five), was 
brought thither in an armchair, and, sitting upon the 
rock, made public declaration that when a boy he had 
been frequently told by the Pilgrims themselves, and by 
his father who came over in 1623, that a landing was 
made upon this identical stone. ' The aged elder then 
took his last look at the spot so endeared to his memory, 
and, bedewing it with tears, bade it farewell.' That 
must have been one of the most dramatic scenes the 
Rock has witnessed. However, part of it has had rather 
an adventurous career; for in 1774 the top was split off 
and drawn to the Town Hall by twenty yoke of oxen, to 
be used as the pedestal of a liberty pole, whose flag bore 
the patriotic motto, 'Liberty or Death.' Here the Pil- 
grim relic remained until 1834, when on the Fourth of 
July it was removed, accompanied by a formal proces- 
sion, to the front of Pilgrim Hall. Meanwhile, the rest 
of the Rock was preserved on the original site, sur- 
rounded by a stone pavement. In 1859 the present canopy 
over it was built. It took eight years to complete this, 



86 Teachers' Manual 

which is one of the homeliest structures ever designed 
by mortal man. In 1880 the vagrant top was restored to 
its place and firmly cemented there, to roam no more. 
Any one can now go into the little kiosk, and sit on the 
sacred stone, or step on it, as preferred." 

Plionetic§ : In the phonetic drill, the 
words should be written phonetically upon 
the board, as well as sounded from the or- 
dinary spelling of the book. The teacher 
should not rely entirely upon the words 
given in these drills alone; she should 
make further selections from the text. 
Remember, however, the psychological 
principle of relief. When the energies are 
taxed along particular lines, a change of 
stimulus is sure of good results. The 
teacher should devise games ; should, if it 
is consistent, introduce action, when the 
text admits of it, as "playing Pilgrims." 

Discussing the word Pilgrim, the teacher 
could, with advantage, tell some simple 
story from Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." 

To the Teacher : 1. It must be re- 
membered always that a thought or wish 
must be clear in the mind before words 
can effectively express it. A teacher who 
has not full faith in God is deficient as a 
teacher. 

2. There is such a thing as a soul finding 



Lesson XIV 87 



God, One who can help in danger, in 
trouble. Every child has a dim, misty 
feeling of his divine origin. Happy that 
one in v^hom it comes to full consciousness ! 
This will enable him to rise superior to all 
the storms, trials, dangers in life ; to strive 
for vigorous, free, joyous childhood. 

3. Let us have that most superlative of 
excellencies, the excellence of sincerity in 
teaching. 



LESSON XIY 



Here is a poem written by one of those 
genial souls the reading of whose works — 
especially his essays — makes one rise so 
much the better therefrom. All those who 
have entered into the spirit of Robert 
Louis Stevenson's "Christmas Sermon" 
will immediately realize what is meant by 
that genial spirit. It is the truth gener- 
ally, impressing one with the idea that the 
soul and the spirit can be and should be 
master of us all. There are parts of the 
"Christmas Sermon" that appear on spe- 
cial panels printed below Stevenson's pic- 



88 Teacher's* Manual 



^ 



ture, that picture which looks out into the 
world with a penetrating gaze that seems 
to see the inner workings of things. Here 
is a man who, like Sidney Lanier, the 
Southern poet, fought against death, 
through life, with that patient fortitude 
and courage that one only has who sees 
the inner light. Such a life, while har- 
rowing in many particulars, is of noble ex- 
ample to children, and should be brought 
before them clearly. Should the teacher 
care for her own satisfaction to look up 
matters in connection with Stevenson's 
life, consult the ' ' Letters of Robert Louis 
Stevenson," edited by Sidney Colvin 
(Charles Scribner's Sons, two vols.), and 
also "The Authentic Life of Stevenson," 
published by the same house. We quote 
some passages from the "Sermon," which 
should be interpreted carefully, revealing 
the proper spirit to the children. It has 
nothing to do with creeds, and yet should 
be the basis of all creeds. It embraces 
that universal touch that makes the Lord's 
Prayer the universal prayer. 

" It is probable that nearly all who think of conduct at 
all think of it too much ; it is certain we all think too 
much of sin. We are not damned for doing wrong, but 



Lesson XIV 89 



j for not doing right; Christ would never hear of negative 
morality; thou shalt was ever his word with which he 
superseded thou shalt not. To make our idea of moral- 
ity center on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination 
and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow-men a 
' secret element of gusto. . . . 

" To be honest, to be kind— to earn a little and to spend 
a little less, to make upon the whole a family happier 
for his presence, to renounce when that shall be neces- 
sary and not be embittered, to keep a few friends, but 
these without capitulation— above all, on the same grim 
condition, to keep friends with himself — here is a task 
for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy. . . . 
j " People are nowadays so fond of resisting temptations ; 
'here is one to be resisted. They are fond of self-denial; 
jhere is a propensity that can not be too peremptorily de- 
nied. There is an idea abroad among moral people that 
I they should make their neighbors good. One person I 
(have to make good: myself. But my duty to my neigh- 
ibor is much more nearly expressed by saying that I 
j have to make him happy— if I may. . . . 
I " To look back upon the past year, and see how little 
jwe have striven and to what small purpose: and how 
often we have been cowardly and hung back, or temera- 
rious and rushed unwisely in; and how every day and 
all day long we have transgressed the law of kindness — 
It may seem a paradox, but in the bitterness of these 
'discoveries, a certain consolation resides. Life is not 
designed to minister to a man's vanity. He goes upon 
I his long business most of the time with a hanging head, 
and all the time like a blind child. Full of rewards and 
pleasures as it is— so that to see the day break or the 
moon rise, or to meet a friend, or to hear the dinner-call 
.vhen he is hungry, fills him with surprising joys — this 
world is yet for him no abiding city. Friendships fall 



90 Teachers' Manual 

through, health fails, weariness assails him; year after 
year he must thumb the hardly varying record of his 
own weakness and folly. It is a friendly process of de- 
tachment. When the time comes that he should go, 
there need be few illusions left about himself. Here lies 
one who meant well, lined a little, failed much—6\iie\j 
that may be his epitaph, of which he need not be 
ashamed." 

The Lesson : The poem should be 
memorized by the pupils. It is from Ste- 
venson's "Child's Garden of Verses," and 
should be read over by the teacher herself 
until the child will be able to repeat certain 
lines. Should the teacher think it advisa- 
ble, she may place the verses in phonetic 
spelling upon the blackboard, and base 
phonetic drills on the different parts. 

Should the teacher find that the pupils 
enjoy reading little poems like these, con- 
sult Stevenson's ' ' Child's Garden of Verses " 
(Charles Scribner's Sons). The whole vol- 
ume is fascinating, but from it we select 
the following titles as being suitable : 

(a) "Bed in Summer." 

(b) "The Whole Duty of Children." 

"A child should always eay whafs true 
And speak when he is spoken to. 
And behave mannerly at table: 
At least as far as he is able." 



Lesson XIV 91 



(c) "Windy Mghts." 

(d) "Land of Counterpane." 

(e) "The Land of Nod." 
(/ ) " Foreign Children. " 
(g) "The Lamp Lighter." 
(h) "The Moon." 

(^). "The Wind." 

U) "Winter Time." 

(Jc) " Picture Books in Winter." 

Elsewhere in the Reader will be found 
another poem of Stevenson's, entitled ' ' My 
Shadow." 

To the Teacher: (1) A lack of or- 
ganic unity will be a loss of energy; there- 
fore, in all lessons when stories and poems 
are used, all should have a direct bearing 
upon the central thought and spirit of the 
lesson. 

(2) Inspiration and enthusiasm are 
quickened or suppressed in the school- 
room more than anywhere else. 

(3) In reading, children must be made 
to grasp the entire thought of a sentence 
or a phrase. The essential thing is to fix 
the mind on the object to be gained. Do 
not become wedded to any hobbies, but 
seek to develop character, courage, hope, 
a-nd love. 



92 Teachers' Manual 

(4) Beware of being overserious— with 
a tense style of conscience; on the other 
hand, beware of being flippant. Let there 
be variety and flexibility of mood. Do not 
forget that there is comedy in life. We 
must live on terms of enjoyment with the 
world. 



LESSON XV 



The Lesson : Emphasize the differ- 
ence between that work done for the love 
of the work, quietly and steadily, and that 
work done with a blustering noise, to at- 
tract or create attention. The teacher 
should say that the sun steadily working 
found success, whereas the wind whose 
boast was so great failed in its purpose. 
Give this explanation carefully and let 
the children think out the reason why 
the sun was successful. It should be the 
teacher's aim to train the logical faculty as 
well as to train the other powers of the 
mind. The logical faculty and the faculty 
of imagination are not antagonistic. All 



Lesson XV 93 



of the faculties of the mind are trainable, 
and should be trained from infancy. 

The story as told in the text will interest 
the child from the imaginative standpoint. 
The first problem in the reading of a book 
is whether the interest is awakened. 
Southey says: "Would you know whether 
the tendency of a book is good or evil, ex- 
amine in what state of mind you lay it 
down. If it induces you to suspect that 
what you have been accustomed to call 
bad be innocent, and that may be harmless 
which you have heretofore thought to 
have dangers, if so, throw the book into 
the fire, whatever name it may bear upon 
the title=page." 

A reading=book for" children should bring 
good cheer, and should have stories that 
avoid the painful; and yet the strenuous 
life should not be ignored. The appeal 
should be to the optimistic side of life. The 
book should have another purpose than to 
create good cheer — and that is to start a 
better idea of life, which should fortify 
children against temptations, not by keep- 
ing them out of temptation, but by making 
them strong in temptation. Let the stories 
be sunny in nature. Show the sunny side 



94 Teachers' Manual 

of life, yet be sure that this is the accurate 
side of life. -The teacher should keep the 
children close to life, the stories should be 
sincere, honest, and based on life as it is 
and as it ought to be. 

Storie§ : The lesson might be divided 
into two distinct parts: (a) dealing with 
the sun; (5) the winds. Nowhere in liter 
ature is there greater material for imag- 
inative legends dealing with these two 
subjects than in Greek and Norse mythol- 
ogy. Mrs. L. L. Wilson calls attention in 
her ' ' Nature Study in Elementary Schools " 
(The Macm411an Company) to the following 
titles : 

(1) "^olus. Story of." 

(2) " Thor and His Hammer." 

(3) "Story of Iris." 

(4) "^neas and the Winds." 

(5) "The Four Winds," from "Hia- 
watha." 

(6) "Wanderings of Atola," 

(7) "Apollo and the Python." 

(8) "Apollo and Clytie." 

(9) "Phaethon." 

(10) "Iris." 

To quote Mrs. Wilson: "The myths 
named above give the story of the sun=god, 



Lesson XV 95 



the giver of light and heat: light trium- 
phant over darkness is typified in Apollo's 
struggle with the Python. The desire of 
plant=life for the snn is told in the story of 
Clytie. The blooming vegetation of spring 
withering under the heat of summer is the 
meaning of the story of Hyacinthus; the 
destructive drought is a consequence of 
Phaethon's carelessness in the driving of 
his father's chariot ; and the storm of thun- 
der, lightning, and rain is the thunderbolt 
of Jupiter which destroys the daring rider. 
Finally comes the beautiful myth of Iris, the 
goddess of the rainbow." [Vid. page 63.] 

These stories, told in a simple way for 
children, would give them a foundation 
which in after=life, when they come to 
consider literary allusions, would be serv- 
iceable. Children remember skiries" as 
stories, and it happens that almost every 
Greek or ISTorse name mentioned in liter- 
ature has a whole coterie of attendant 
stories which are purely fairy=tale in char- 
acter, and should be so emphasized to the 
children, even tho an objection might be 
raised to the word god used in connec- 
tion with these tales. Should the teacher 
desire, she could change the words god and 



96 Teachers' Manual 

gods to such phrases as a great person and 
great people, and then treat the stories 
simply as stories. 

Let the teacher tell about Ulysses and 
his wanderings; how, when he arrived at 
the island of .^olus, where ruled King 
^olus, to whom Jupiter had given the 
winds to do with them as he would, Ulysses 
found good treatment and rich entertain- 
ment. When Ulysses was about to go. 
King ^olus gave to him a leathern bag 
tied with silver strings and said to him : 

' ' Herein I have tied those winds which 
would harm thee on the journey; only fair 
winds will speed you on your way. But 
look not therein lest the bad winds all 
come out." 

Before the wind Ulysses went, and for 
nine days he himself watched at the helm. 
But soon sleep overcame him, and then 
the ship's crew, coming together, talked of 
this mysterious bag and decided that it 
contained untold wealth, of which they 
would like to have a share. So they untied 
the silver strings, and out there rushed all of 
the bad winds of heaven, and the ship was 
driven backward to the island of ^olus. 

Here the King, enraged at what he saw, 



Lesson XV 9^ 



refused to help Ulysses more, and so the 
wanderer had to go over that long distance 
again without the aid of favoring winds 
and with the help only of the oars. 

HiaAvatlia and the Four Winds : 
In Longfellow's "Hiawatha," Part II, is 
told of the four winds ; how after Mudje- 
keewis had killed the Great Bear of the 
Mountains, he returned and was chosen 
father of the Winds of Heaven, keeping for 
himself the West Wind and giving the 
other winds to his children. 

Pronunciation Drill : Regarding 
phonetic spelling, remember that through- 
out this Reader it is only used for pronun- 
ciation purposes ; the child, however, 
should be made so familiar with the sym- 
bols representing the different sounds of 
the Scientiiic Alphabet that if a radical 
change should ever be made in our present 
spelling, it will not be too difficult a one. 
and the way will be prepared for whatever 
modifications are made. The Scientific 
Alphabet should be urged upon the ground 
of simplicity. It contains a minimum of 
diacritical marks and a minimum of odd 
consonantal combinations. The phonetic 
drill consists of examples of "E" sounds 
7 



98 Teachers' Manual 

in the first line and miscellaneous sounds 
in the second line. If the teacher finds the 
children interested in the working=out of 
phonetic sentences, take easy sentences 
from the text and treat them in a way 
similar to that suggested previously. In 
all phonetic drills, wherever the teacher 
finds the child having difficulty in the pro- 
nunciation of a word, that word should be 
carefully drilled upon and put in phonetic 
spelling upon the board. 



LESSON XYl 



The birds to be studied in this lesson 
have been grouped as common about our 
homes — the ''home birds." Remember 
that in the study of birds some of the most 
important points to be taken up are : 

(1) Color; (2) size; (3) wings; (4) markings on wing, 
tail, breast, back, etc. ; (5) movement; (6) feet; (7) song; 
(8) nest; (9) eggs. 

Picture: The pictures for the bird 
lessons have been carefully drawn by the 
best artists, and have been examined in 



Lesson XVI 99 



detail by Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of the 
Mnseum of Natural History (New York), 
so that their accuracy is assured. Ask 
questions based upon the details of the pic- 
ture ; for example : 

1. Which is the largest of the four birds 
in the picture ? 

2. -Which bird do you consider the pret- 
tiest ? 

3. From what you have heard about 
birds, which one would you rather own ? 

4. Is the robin the same as the robin red- 
breast of the "Babes in the Wood" story? 

The teacher must bear in mind that the 
selection of the four birds under considera- 
tion does not necessarily mean that these 
are the only birds found among the twenty 
studied in the Second Reader that are 
common about our homes. The birds stud- 
ied in Lesson V could in all probability be 
studied from the same standpoint; in the 
six bird lessons, the object is to show that 
it is possible for the teacher to study from 
six entirely different points of view should 
she so desire. 

As before, consult the following books, 
from which much of the material found in 
these notes is taken : 



LcfC.I 



100 Teachers' Manual 

(a) "Bird Neighbors," Neltje Blanchan (Doubleday 
& McClure Company). 

(6) "Bird Life," Frank M. Chapman (D. Appleton & 
Company). 

(c) " Birds of Village and Field," Florence A. Merriam 
(Houghton, Mifflin & Company). 

Chipping !Sparro\r : 

Family.— Finch. Spizella socialis. 

Eange.— North America, west to Rockies. 

Migration.— J.;Tit;a^ .• Summer resident. Departure: 
October. Sometimes resident. 

Size.— 5-5.5 inches; 1 inch shorter thanEnglish sparrow. 

Nest. — Location : Vine, bush, or tree, from 1 to 25 feet 
from the ground. Material: Grass, roots; sometimes 
lined with hair. 

'Egg'&.— Number : 3 to 5. Color: Light blue tinged 
with green, purple, and brown markings. 

The family to which the sparrow belongs 
is a large one, and in the Second Reader we 
have selected not the English sparrow, 
which is familiar to every one, but the 
chipping sparrow, commonly known as the 
' ' chippy. " One can hardly realize that not 
many years ago the English sparrow was 
unknown to America. It was only after a 
few pairs were brought over from England 
and set free in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, 
that these most troublesome of bird neigh- 
bors began to multiply, until now so many 
have become citizens of the United States 



Lesson XVI 101 



that the birds of America are finding it 
hard to maintain their own. The chipping 
sparrow is common in North America from 
Newfoundland to the Gulf of Mexico and 
westward to the Rockies, and winters in 
the Gulf States and Mexico. 

Neltje Blanchan, in her "Bird Neigh- 
bors," calls the chippies the humblest and 
most unassuming of our bird neighbors. 
The male, under the eye and on the back of 
the neck and underneath, is ash gray, with a 
gray stripe over the eye and a blackish one 
apparently through it. His crown is red- 
dish brown ; the wings and tail are a distinct 
brown ; the bill is black. The female lacks 
the chestnut color on her crown, which is 
striped with black, and below the wings 
the front is black ; the bill is brownish. 

Unlike most sparrows, Neltje Blanchan 
says, the little chippy frequents high trees, 
where its nest is built quite as often as in 
the low bushes in the garden, 

Florence A. Merriam, in "Birds of Vil- 
lage and Field," writes the following of the 
chippy : ♦ 

"Since the chippy is the first of the sparrows to be 
studied, it will be well to look very closely to see what 
are his family traits. He has the cone-shaped, seed* 



102 Teachers' Manual 

cracking finch bill — the type we saw approached by 
those of the cowbird and bobolink; but, like most spar- 
rows, is not exclusively granivorous. As a seed^eater 
he destroys the foxtail and crab=grass that disfigure our 
lawns, and he helps too to free our premises from pig- 
weed, chickweed, and knotweed; while as an iusect== 
eater he does us a good turn by eating cabbage=worms, 
tent=caterpillars, and gipsy=moth caterpillars. ..." 

Bluebird : 

Pamily.—Thrush. Sialia sialis. 

Range.— North America, Nova Scotia to the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

Migration. — An^ival: March. Summer resident. De- 
parture; November. 

Size. — 7 inches; 1 inch longer than English sparrow. 

Food. — Grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, wild fruit. 

'Nest— Location : Hole in trae, bird=boxes. MateHal: 
Grass. 

'Eiggs.— Number : 3 to 6. Color: Pale blue, sometimes 
white. 

Male. — Wings, back, and tail bright bhie ; 

rusty in autumn. Throat, breast, and 

sides cinnamon=brown ; under side of tail 

white. Female. — Dull=blue feathers with a 

. paler breast than the male. [F7d. Blanchan. ] 

It is a peculiar fact that the young of the 
bluebird are almost black in color, and it 
is only after several weeks that the first 
streaks of blue appear. 

Mr. Dugmore, in his "Bird Homes," has 
the following to say of the bluebird : 



Lesson XVI 103 



"He is my favorite bird, and wMle I am writing of 
him, a pet one, but three months old, is sitting on my 
paper, seeming to wonder what I am doing, and why I 
do not play with him. He nips my pencil, but I pay no 
attention to him; then he tries to creep up my sleeve, 
and still I pay no attention; so, disgusted, he flies off to 
search for . '. . insects. After a time I . . . call; back 
he comes like a flash, and, hovering more like a large 
moth than a bird, he perches on my fingers, singing at 
the same time a soft little song that is his method of 
speech. Having a bird that is so thoroughly compan- 
ionable makes me regard all bluebirds with the gi'eatest 
possible affection." 

Mr. Cliapman says in his "Bird Life": 

" The bluebird is the first of our smaller birds to be- 
gin housekeeping; . . . no bird's song is more associated 
with the return of spring than the bluebird's; nor is 
there a bird's note more expressive of the passing sea- 
son than the bluebird's autumn call, 'Far away, far 
away.' " 

In Florence A. Merriam's "Birds of Vil- 
lage and Field" the following interesting 
incident is quoted : 

"Altho the bluebu-d did not come over in the May- 
J!owe7\ it is said that when the Pilgrim Fathers came 
to New England this bird was one of the first whose 
gentle warblings attracted their notice, and from its re- 
semblance to the beloved robin redbreast of their native 
land they called it the blue robin. . . . 

"One of the most effective ways to attract the blue- 
bird ... is by planting wild berry^beariug bushes, par- 
ticularly in the West, where such bushes do not grow 



104 Teachers' Manual 

naturally. For . . . three-quarters of the bluebh'd's 
food consists of grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and 
similar insects, and it is ' exceedingly useful to the horti- 
culturist and farmer, destroying myriads of larvae and in- 
sects which would otherwise increase and multiply.'. . ." 

The bluebird, the same author writes, 
' ' extends his dietary to wild fruits, and by 
means of them he may be brought about 
our houses. A variety of bushes can be 
planted, for he has been found to eat 
bird=cherry, choke=cherry, dogwood, . . . 
huckleberry, greenbrier, Virginia creeper, 
strawberry=bush, juniper=berry, bitter- 
sweet, pokeberry, false spikenard, par- 
tridgeberry, holly, rose^haws, sumac, and 
wild sarsaparilla. " 

American Robin : 

Family.— -Thrush. Merula migratoria. 

Range. — North America, from Mexico to arctic re- 
gions. 

Mxgreiiiovi..— Arrival : March. Departure: October, 
November. Often resident. 

Size. — 10 inches. 

Food. — Wild fruit, dogwood, wild grapes; the harm 
done in strawberry^patches overbalanced by quantity of 
worms and insects devoured. 

'^&&t.— Location : Branch of tree 4 to 85 feet from 
ground. Material: Leaves, roots, grasses, and mud; 
inner lining mud and fine grass. 

'E>gg».— Number : 3 to 5. Color : Greenish blue. 



Lesson XVI 105 

Male. — Dull brownish, olive=green above ; 
head black; tail brownish black, with 
feathers white at inner tips; wings dark 
brownish; throat streaked with black and 
white ; breast rusty red ; white below tail. 
Female. — Dull breast; resembling male in 
autumn. 

Mr. Parkhurst, in his " Bird Calendar," 
says he knows of "no other bird that is 
able to give so many shades of meaning to 
a single note, running over the entire 
gamut of its possible feelings, . . . love, 
contentment, anxiety, exultation, rage, . . . 
the robin seems more nearly human than 
any of its kind." And Neltje Blanchan 
writes: "Prof. Tredwell, who experi- 
;mented upon some young robins kept in 
captivity, learned that they ate sixty=eight 
worms daily — 'that is, each bird ate 40 per 
cent, more than its own weight in twelve 
hours ! The length of these worms, if laid 
end to end, would be about fourteen feet.' " 
i Redwiiiged Blackbird : 

j Family.— Blackbird. Agelaius phceniceus. 

Range.— Fi-om Mexico to 57 degrees N. lat. 
\ Migration.— J.mya/,- March. Summer resident. De- 
parture: October. 

Size.— Variable, 7.51-9.80 inches; usually 1 inch smaller 
, than robin. 
I 



106 Teachers' Manual 






Food.— Largely insects and noxious weeds of all 
kinds. 

'Nest— Location : In grass, cattails, or reeds; often in 
bushes 4 and 5 feet from the ground. Material : Weeds 
and grasses lined with hair. 

'Eggs.—Nuviber: 3 to 5. Color: Pale greenish blue 
or pearly white, blotches of dark purplish brown. 

The male is coal=black, except for scarlet 
shoulders edged with yellow. The female is 
speckled with brown, rusty black, whitish, 
and orange, and the iipper wing=coverts are 
rusty black tipped with white and rufous. 
The blackbird's song, Neltje Blanchan 
claims, contains notes liquid in quality, 
suggesting the sweet, moist, cool retreats 
where the blackbird nests. She likewise 
claims that tho farmers may complain 
that the blackbird is a nuisance, still an 
examination of his food will show that 
seven^eighths of his bill of fare is made up 
of weed=seeds or of insects injurious to 
agriculture. 

This familiar bird, with his distribution 
throughout the United States, is of untold 
value from an economic standpoint. The 
teacher should emphasize that even tho 
a bird might now and then destroy some- 
thing that is of value to man, the service 
done in other directions quite counterbal- 



Lesson XVI 107 



ances this slight mischief on his part. The 
redwinged blackbird is among our most 
useful as well as familiar birds. He feasts 
upon insect pests, including grubworms, 
cutworms, grasshoppers, beet=catei-pillars. 
[See ''Birds of Village and Field," page 96.] 
He tuiTis his attention to the weed=seeds, 
destroying such specimens as ragweed and 
foxtail ; in fact, Miss Florence A. Merriam 
states: "Statistics show that 57 percent, 
of its total vegetable food is composed of 
noxious weeds as against 13 per cent, of 
grain. " In the South, here and there among 
the rice=fields, the blackbird eats the de- 
generate grain and relieves the farmer of 
considerable work. 

Proiiuuciation Drill : The teacher 
should not pay particular attention to any 
of the diphthongal sounds found in the les- 
sons previous to those in which the diph- 
thongs are taken up as a definite study. 
It rests with the teacher who reads the 
text and has it read by the pupils them- 
selves to make a list of words the pho- 
netic spellings of which are to be found 
in the special vocabulary in the Appendix. 
These various drills are given with the 
special intention of reviewing and empha- 



108 Teachers' Manual 

sizing what has been said in the Standard 
First Reader concerning a phonetic method. 
Only by constant repetition may a phonetic 
system and the symbols that make that 
system be remembered. Once indelibly 
stamped upon the memory of a child, there 
is at his command an unvarying symbol 
that represents an unvarying sound; by 
this means an accurate standard of pro- 
nunciation may be procured. 

To tS e Teacher: 

(1) Bririg the child to a closer observation of nature 
and to a better understanding of nature. There are 
teachers who teach without a grain of inspiration, with- 
out a grain of enthusiasm for their profession, or for the 
perfection of manhood and womanhood. 

(2) Facts are the most important things in the world. 
A fact is stubborn, omnipotent, irresistible. We may 
shut our eyes to it, explode dynamite under it, yet it is 
unchanged. 

(3) Never forget the power of the imaginative faculty 
of children. Appeal to it, seek to cultivate it by exercise 
within the limits of truth and reason. Teach children to 
create pictures in their minds, remembering always that 
a picture is more powerful than argument. Cultivate the 
art of making children see what you want them to see. 

(4) "Learn by doing," says Froebel. 

(5) It is well to know what to forget. 

(6) Herbert Spencer says : "Children should be told 
as little as possible and encouraged to discover as much 
as possible." 



Lessons XVII, XVIII 109 



LESSON XVII 



This is to be read and memorized by the 
pupils. Words in it are to be studied pho- 
netically, and phonetic sentences should 
be based upon lines in the poem. 



LESSON XYIII 



The Development of Printing : 

Nowhere is the contrast between the me- 
dieval spirit and the modern spirit better 
brought out than in the way in which books 
were made then and are printed now. 
The teacher should get the child interested 
in the way the monks of the Middle Ages 
used to illuminate manuscripts. If it had 
aot been for these monks most of the classic 
literature of G-reek and Roman civilization 
I would have been lost. Tell how with in- 



110 Teachers' Manual 

finite patience and exactitude the monk 
with varions colors used to decorate the 
pages upon which he wrote. From "Intro- 
duction to the History of Western Europe," 
by James Harvey Robinson [Part I, The 
Middle Ages] (Ginn & Company) , we quote 
the following: 

"Just as the books had all to be laboriously written 
out by hand, so each picture was painted on the parchment 
page with tiny brushes and usually in brilliant colors 
with a generous use of gold. And as the monks wrote 
out the books, so it was, in general, the monks who 
painted the pictures. The books that they adorned were 
chiefly those used in the church services; especially the 
breviary, the psalter, and the book of hours. Naturally, 
these pictures usually dealt with religious subjects and il- 
lustrated the lives of the saints or the events of Biblical 
history. Virtue was encouraged by representations of 
the joys of heaven and also stimulated by spirited por- 
trayals of the devil and his fiends, and of the sufferings 
of the lost " (page 261). 

Does it not seem strange that at one time 
the printing of books was such a problem 
and now it is such an ordinary thing for 
presses to turn out thousands and thou- 
sands of books a day ? 

From the "International Cyclopedia" 
(Dodd, Mead & Company) the following is 
condensed : 

The art of printing is of comparatively 



Lesson XVIII 111 



modern origin, only four hundred years 
having elapsed since the first book was is- 
sued from the press. The Chinese are the 
only existing people who still pursue the 
rude mode of printing by stamping paper 
with blocks of wood. 

The credit of discovering movable type, 
thereby avoiding blocks of type, is disputed 
between a Dutchman, Laurence Coster, and 
Gutenberg. Up to the seventeenth century, 
a screw=press printing under pressure was 
used (consult cyclopedias for the develop- 
ment of the modem press). 

The modern press now turns out rapidly 
the newspapers that are put on our break- 
fast=table in the morning. The teacher 
will find it much better to let a child see 
the printing=press at work, not only print- 
ing the papers, but folding and cutting 
them so that when dropped from the press 
they are ready for delivery. 

Later on, a lesson based on Benjamin 
Franklin and his work as a printer will be 
given. His name is mentioned in the text, 
but it would be well simply to suggest who 
he was rather than to go into very much 
detail at present. 
If a toy printing=press could be procured 



112 Teachers' Manual 

it would be interesting to let the children 
set up the type and "play printing." In 
the game ' ' word making and taking " let 
the children separate the different letters, 
putting all the A's together, all the B's to- 
gether, etc., until all the letters of the al- 
phabet are separated ; then let them spell 
words by taking the letters from the differ- 
ent piles in the same way that the printer 
takes the types from the different parts of 
the typesetting=case. 

Pronunciation Drill : Use the 
words in sentences, and take sentences 
from the text and put in phonetic spelling. 
To the Teacher : (1) You can not 
develop the individuality of a child unless 
you grant freedom. Inspire self=active 
growth. Slavery must be banished from 
the schoolroom. Slavery is to make one 
do from outside motive ; freedom is to do 
from inside. 

(3) Distinguish clearly between thinking 
and memory; wise discriminating efforts 
should be made to develop each. We must 
train the sense of perception with exact- 
ness. 



Lesson XIX 113 



LESSON XIX 



The Le§i§oii : This should be treated 
as a story, and then talked about from its 
ethical motive. The teacher should make 
the pupils familiar with some of the pro- 
verbial expressions that are common in 
English. It must be remembered that at 
this particular stage the pupils are obtain- 
ing the foundations of culture, and the allu- 
sions found in the literature to be studied 
in future grades are often stumbling-blocks 
in the way of clear understanding. Do 
not make the child a mere creature of rou- 
tine, otherwise you will stupefy him and 
stunt his mental growth. 

When the child understands the thorough 
meaning of the proverb which ends the les- 
son, "Labor conquers all things," make 
him familiar with other proverbs. 

Proverbs : 

(1) All that glisters is not gold. 

(2) Be sure you are right, then go ahead. 

(3) Deeds not words. 



114 Teachers' Manual 

(4) Forgiveness is better than revenge. 

(5) It is better to wear out than to rust out. 

(6) Strike while the uron is hot. 

Pronunciation Drill : Attention 
should be called to the "ng" sound in the 
word conquers. The first line of the pho- 
netic drill contains examples of the "O" 
sounds. 

' To the Teacher : The following par- 
agraphs by Friedrich Froebel are gleaned 
from selections to be found in Warner's 
' ' Library of the World's Best Literature " 
(Vol. X) : 

" I see in every child the possibility of a perfect man." 

"The plays of childhood are the heart^leaves of the 
whole future life." 

" Childish unconsciousness is rest in God," 

" From each object of nature and of life, there goes a 
path toward God." 

" Childhood is the most important stage of the total 
development of man and of humanity." 

"Isolation and exclusion destroy life; union and par- 
ticipation create life." 

" The tree^germ bears within itself the nature of the 
whole tree ; the human being bears in himself the nature 
of all humanity; and is not therefore humanity born 
anew in each child? " 

" In the children lies the seed=corn of the future." 

" In all things works one creative life, because the life 
of all things proceeds from one God." 

"Let us live with our children; so shall their lives 



Lesson XIX 115 



bring peace and joy to us; so shall we begin to be and 
to become wise." 

"What boys and girls play in earliest childhood will 
become by and by a beautiful reality of serious life; for 
they expand into stronger and lovelier youthfulness by 
seeking on every side appropriate objects to verify the 
thoughts of their inmost souls." 

" This earliest age is the most important one for educa- 
tion, because the beginning decides the manner of prog- 
ress and the end. If national order is to be recognized 
in later years as a benefit, childhood must first be accus- 
tomed to law and order, and therein find the means of 
freedom. Lawlessness and caprice must rule in no pe- 
riod of life, not even in that of the nursling." 

" The kindergarten is the free republic of childhood." 

" Man must be able to fail, in order to be good and 
virtuous; and he must be able to become a slave, in order 
to be truly free." 

"My teachers are the children themselves, with all 
their purity, their innocence, their unconsciousness, and 
their irresistible claims; and I follow them like a faith- 
ful, trustful scholar." 

" I wish to cultivate men who stand rooted in nature, 
with their feet in God's earth, whose heads reach toward 
and look into the heavens; whose hearts unite the richly 
formed life of earth and nature, with the purity and 
peace of heaven —Grod's earth and God's heaven," 



116 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON XX 



The Lesson : In the text there is scope 
for varied treatment. There are no less 
than fourteen objects mentioned for which 
material could be furnished. These topics 
are as follows : 

(1) South wind; (2) vine; (3) oak=tree; 
(4) daisy; (5) sun and flowers; (6) the 
violet; (7) bees; (8) summer and bird 
music; (9) north wind; (10) oak4eaves 
falling; (11) snow; (12) storm king; (13) 
brook; (14) bluebird. 

The Wind : Consult the suggestions 
given in the Teachers' Manual for the First 
Reader, Lesson LII; the teacher should 
drill the children upon the various direc- 
tions from which the wind blows. 

In her "Nature Study in Elementary 
Schools" (The Macmillan Company) Mrs. 
Wilson writes as follows : 

" The children should be taken out of doors to notice 
the direction from which the wind comes, after they 
have been properly prepared for the work by discussing 



Lesson XX 117 

various ways by which this may be determined, such as 
holding up the handkerchief, pieces of paper, watching 
the leaves, clouds, smoke, flags, etc. It must be made 
perfectly clear that all of these things will be blown in a 
direction exactly opposed to that from which the wind 
comes. If, for example, the smoke is going to the south- 
east the wind is from the northwest " (page 15). 

The readiest of all ways is to wet a finger 
in the mouth and hold it up. The side to- 
ivard the wind, even a very slight wind, 
will at once feel cold, by evaporation. 

Vine : The text also mentions the vine, 
which should be discussed in general, show- 
ing the different parts. Characteristic of 
the vine are the tendrils, which help the 
plant to climb. From Gray's "Manual of 
Botany" (American Book Company, page 
112) we quote the following: 

"[The vine family consists of] shrubs with watery 
juice, usually climbing by tendrils, with small regular 
flowers." 

Among the fruits, the grape=vine with 
its purple grapes could be mentioned; 
among the flowers, the honeysuckle; 
among the ordinary plants, the ivy. 

Show the pupils by drawings of the 
leaves the difference between the ordinary 
harmless ivy or Virginia creeper and the 
poison^ivy. Note especially that poison* 



118 Teachers' Manual 

ivy is 34eaved while time ivy is 5=leaved. 
A story connected with the vine, called 
"The Oak=Tree and the Ivy," will be found 
in another part of the Reader, page 104. 

Oak=Tree : The teacher is referred to 
the lesson upon the oak=tree in this Reader, 
page 132. 

Daisy : The daisy has been studied in a 
previous lesson, page 72. We quote from 
"Folk^Lore of Plants," by T. F. T. Dyer 
(D. Appleton & Company), the following 
stories in connection with the daisy : 

"A popular French one [siiperstition] which many of 
our young people also practise is for lovers to test the 
sincerity of their affections by taking a daisy and pluck- 
ing its leaflets off one by one, saying: ' Does he love me 
a little? Much? Passionately? Not at all? ' . . . The 
blossoming of plants at certain times is said to be an 
indication of the coming weather, and so when the 
bramble blooms early in June an early harvest may be 
expected; and in the northern countries the peasant 
judges of the advance of the year by the appearance of 
the daisy, affirming that 'spring has not arrived till you 
can set your foot on twelve daisies.' . . . 

"In Thuringia on the extraction of a tooth the person 
must eat three daisies to be henceforth free from tooth- 
ache." 

Sun and FlOTvers : Tell of the influ- 
ence of the sun on plant life ; how, for ex- 
ample, trees bend in a certain direction 



Lesson XX 119 



along a river bank or on the slope of a 
mountain where they may be subjected to 
the greatest amount of sunlight. A strong 
prevailing wind may reverse this, as on 
seashore. The child may in all probability 
ask where the green of plants comes from. 
A simple lesson on the action of the sun in 
producing chlorophyl will not be amiss. 

The Violet : It blossoms everywhere, 
in woods, waysides, meadows, marshes, 
and shady dells. 

" The heart-shaped, saw-edged leaves, folded toward 
the center when newly put forth, and the five-petaled, 
bluish^parpie, golden=hearted blossom, are too familiar 
for more detailed description. From the three=cornered 
stars of the elastic capsules the seeds are scattered 
abroad. [Vid. "Nature's Garden," page 29.] 

" Beards on the spurred lower petal and the two side 
petals give the bees a foothold when they turn head 
downward, as some must, to suck nectar. This attitude 
enables them to receive the pollen dusted on their abdo- 
mens, when they jar the flower, at a point nearest their 
pollen=collecting hairs." 

Butterflies and bumblebees are the pol- 
len=eating interlopers. 

From Neltje Blanchan's "Nature's Gar- 
den," the following is quoted: 

" (1) Why is the flower situated on a long stalk which is 
upright, but curved do\\Tiward8 at the free end? In order 
that it may hang down, which, firstly, prevents rain from 



120 Teachers' Manual 

obtaining access to the nectar; and, secondly, places the 
stamens in such a position that the pollen falls into the 
open space between the pistil and the free ends of the 
stamens. If the flower were upright, the pollen would 
fall into the space between the base of the stamen and 
the base of the pistil, and would not come in contact 
with the bee. 

" (2) Why does the pollen differ from that of most 
other insect=fertilized flowers? In most of such flowers 
the insects themselves remove the pollen from the an- 
thers, and it is therefore important that the pollen should 
not easily be detached and carried away by the wind. In 
the present case, on the contrary, it is desirable that it 
should be looser and drier, so that it may easily fall into 
the space between the stamens and the pistil. If it re- 
mained attached to the anther, it would not be touched 
by the bee, and the flower would remain unfertilized. 

" (3) Why is the base of the style so thin? In order 
that the bee may be more easily able to bend the style. 

*' (4) Why is the base of the style bent? For the same 
reason. . . . 

" (5) Why does the membranous termination of the 
upper filament overlap the corresponding portions of the 
two middle stamens? Because this enables the bee to 
move the pistil, and thereby to set free the pollen more 
easily than would be the case under the reverse arrange- 
ment." 

Bees : For material upon this subject the 
teacher is referred as a review to the Teach- 
ers' Manual for the First Reader (page 211). 

Bluebird : The teacher is again re- 
ferred to Lesson XVI, page 40, for material 
on the bluebird. 



Lesson XX 131 



Text : The lesson is based on a story by- 
Eugene Field, in "A Little Book of Prof- 
itable Tales" (Charles Scribner's Sons). 
Awaken the imagination of the pupils and 
talk about the details of the picture. Ob- 
tain the book itself, if possible. 

Pronunciation Drill: While no pro- 
nunciation drill or phonetic drill is pre- 
pared in connection with this lesson, the 
teacher must not forget that throughout 
the reading of the text attention should 
be paid to clear enunciation. Whatever 
words are seemingly difficult to pronounce 
should be written upon the board and 
drilled upon. The teacher should select 
from the text such words as fierceness, 
sweetly, awakening, for careful drill. Pho- 
netic sentences should be taken from the 
text and sounded as heretofore suggested. 

To the Teacher: 

(1) Nature work is an educational movement that 
would have delighted the heart of Horace Mami. 

(2) Seek is the law of development, of progress. 

(3) Above all, study those things that nourish character. 

(4) Encourage every family to have a children's garden. 



133 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON XXI 



The licsson : The author of "Alice in 
Wonderland," speaking of biography and 
autobiography, said that ''autobiography 
is what biography ought to be." 

A knowledge of Benjamin Franklin is 
not complete unless his autobiography has 
been read. Franklin had so many pursuits 
and so many tastes that to the American 
girl or boy his entire life will act as a great 
force. 

The autobiography is a small book. If 
the teacher is not familiar with it, the op- 
portunity now presents itself to read it 
through. There is much material that the 
teacher would find invaluable for school- 
room use; almost at random could pas- 
sages be selected that would form the basis 
for numerous talks. 

The lesson is based on simple sentences 
taken from the "Autobiography." The 
entire book is direct and straightforward. 
Read part of the "Autobiography" your- 



Lesson XXI 123 



self and let Franklin speak for himself. 
The following topics for stories are sug- 
gested in paragraphs culled here and there 
from the little book : 

I. Entry into Philadelphia. 

"I have beeu the more particular in this description 
of my jomTLey, and shall be so of my first entry into that 
city, that you may in your mind compare such unlikely 
beginnings with the figure I have since made there. I 
was in my working dress, my best clothes coming round 
by sea. I was dii-ty from my being so long in the boat. My 
pockets were stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and 
I knew no one, nor where to look for lodging. Fatigued 
with walking, rowing, and the want of sleep, I was very 
hungry; and my whole stock of cash consisted in a single 
dollar, and about a shilling in copper coin, which I gave 
to the boatmen for my passage. At first they refused it, 
on account of my having rowed ; but I insisted on their 
taking it. Man is sometimes more generous when he 
has little money than when he has plenty, perhaps to 
prevent his being thought to have but little. 

"I walked toward the top of the street, gazing about 
till near Market Street, where I met a boy with bread. 
I had often made a meal of dry bread, and, inquiring 
where he had bought it, I went immediately to the 
baker's he directed me to. I asked for biscuits, meaning 
such as we had at Boston; that sort, it seems, was not 
made in Philadelphia. I then asked for a threepenny 
loaf, and was told they had none. Not knowing the dif- 
ferent prices, nor the names of the different sorts of 
bread, I told him to give me threepenny worth of any 
sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. 
I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and, having 



124 Teachers' Manual 

no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under 
each arm, and eating the other. Thus I went up Market 
Street as far as Fourth Street, passing by the door of 
Mr. Read, my future wife's father; when she, standing 
at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly 
did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. Then I 
turned and went down Chestnut Street and part of Wal- 
nut Street, eating my roll all the way, and, coming round, 
found myself again at Market Street wharf, near the 
boat I came in, to which I went for a draft of the 
river water; and, being filled with one of my rolls, gave 
the other two to a woman and her child that came down 
the river in the boat with us, and were waiting to go 
farther." 

II. In simple form let the teacher talk 
to the children about Franklin's idea of 
virtue. 

III. Franklin's methods emphasize the 

force of Pope's proverbial expression that 

"order is heaven's first law " : 

"The precept of 07'der requiring that every part of 
my business should have Us allotted time., one page in 
my little book contained the following scheme of em- 
ployment for the twenty =»f our hours of a natural day: 

SCHEME. 

HOtJES. 



r (5) 

MORNING. J , . 

The question : I 
What §ood shall I (7) 
I do this day ? f (8) ' 



(9. 
(10) 
(11) J 



Rise, wash, and address Poio- 
erf id Goodness ! Contrive day's 
business and take the resolution 
of the day; prosecute the pres- 
ent study, and breakfast. 



>■ Work. 



Lesson XXI 135 



xrnnx7 J (12) I Read, or look over my ao- 

^°°^- 1 (1) f counts, and dine. 

AFTEBNOON. -| >^< |- Work. 
L (5) J 

EVENING. r (6) "i Put things in their places. 
The question : J (?) I Supper. Music or diversion. 
What good have 1 (8) \ or conversation. Examination 
I done to=day ? I (9) J of the day. 
r (10) ^ 

I (12) ! 
NIGHT. -{ (1) I- Sleep. 

(2) I 
I (3) I 
I (4) J 
"I entered upon the execution of this plan for self-ex- 
amination, and continued it with occasional intermis- 
sions for some time. I was surprised to find myself so 
much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the 
satisfaction of seeing them diminish. ..." 



rV. Franklin's interests in education, etc. 

(a) University at Philadelphia ; (h) civic 
activity; (c) politics; (d) founding hospi- 
tal; (e) introducing street=cleaning. 

V. Franklin's part in our Revolutionary 
War, etc. 

John Bigelow, in his introduction to the 
selections from Franklin's works, in Charles 
Dudley Warner's "Library of the World's 
Best Literature," has these points to em- 
phasize : 

(a) As a printer, as a journalist, as a diplomatist, as a 
statesman, as a phOosopher, he was easily first among 
his contemporaries. 



126 Teachers' Manual 

(6) " The organization of a police and later of the 
militia for Philadelphia; of companies for extinguishing 
fires; making the sweeping and paving of the streets a 
municipal function; the formation of the first public 
library for Philadelphia and the establishment of an 
academy which has matured into the now famous Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, were among the conspicuous 
reforms which he planted and watered in the columns of 
the Philadelphia Gazette.'''' 

(c) " In surveying the life of Dr. Franklin as a whole, 
the thing that most impresses one is his constant study 
and singleness of purpose to promote the welfare of 
human society. It was his daily theme as a journalist 
and his yearly theme as an almanac<=maker. It is that 
which first occurs to us when we recall his career as a 
member of the Colonial Assembly, as an agent of the 
provinces in England, as a diplomatist in France, and as 
a member of the conventions which crowned the consist- 
ent labors of his long life." 

(d) " Tho holding office for more than half of his life, 
the office always sought Franklin, not Franklin the 
office.'' 

(e) " It is also quite remarkable that tho Franklin's 
life was a continuous warfare, he had no personal 
enemies." 

Concerning the signing of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, Mr. Bigelow gives 
the following anecdote : 

" When the members were about to sign the Declara- 
tion, Mr. Hancock is reported to have said: 'We must be 
unanimous; there must be no pulling different ways; we 
must all hang together.' 'Yes,' replied Franklin, 'we 
must iudeed all hang together, or most assuredly we 
shall all hang separately.' " 



Lesson XXI 127 

Pronunciation Drill: In the pro 

niinciation drill eight words are given in 
which various sounds are introduced with 
the purpose of having all of them empha- 
sized simply as sounds. In drilling upon 
the short sound of "A," such words as 
Franklin, chandler, and grammar could be 
written upon the blackboard ; so with other 
words in the text, definite drill may be 
given upon whatever particular sounds the 
teacher wishes to emphasize. The diph- 
thongal sounds should not be emphasized 
until the time comes for direct study of 
them. The teacher should call attention 
to the ng [n] sound in the word Franklin. 

To tlie Teacher: 

(1) Strive to get the idea into the minds of little chil- 
dren that life does not consist in eating and drinking, or 
in what one wears, or in riches, or in the health of the 
body, but in doing good, in making, as Browning said, 
" the absolute best of that which God has given us." 
This is nowhere better emphasized than in the life of 
Benjamin Franklin. 

(2) It is not the gloved hand that is needed always; it 
is above all the iron hand in the glove. 

(3) Expect a child to come into a better life slowly, 
not by once telling, but by spiritual, moral, and mental 
growth. It is not simply knowledge that makes the 
child strong, but growth and character. 



128 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON XXII 



"Poor Richard's Almanac": 

From Franklin's "Poor Richard's Alma- 
nac," a certain number of quotations have 
been made for the first part of this lesson. 
The sentences are to be used in the same 
way that the mottoes were used in the First 
Reader. Each sentence is to be taken up 
separately and explained to the children. 
Each sentence also should form the basis 
of a story either to be made up by the 
teacher or to be based upon some story 
she knows ; for example, ' ' God helps those 
who help themselves " is very well exempli- 
fied in Franklin's own life, where through 
his own exertions he rose to a high position 
in American history. The motto "One 
to==day is worth two to=morrows " is put in 
another form when it is said that "A bird 
in the hand is worth two in the bush," or 
"Put not that off till to=morrow which 
ought to be done to=day." As for pronun 
ciation drill the following words might be 



Lessons XXIII, XXV, XXVI 129 

put upon the board with their phonetic 
spellings : almanac, business, faithful, serv- 
ant, and Richard. This should be used 
after the teacher has drilled thoroughly 
upon the pronunciation drill and phonetic 
sentence given on the lesson page. 



LESSONS XXIII, XXV 
XXYI 



The Lessons : Lessons XXIII, XXV, 

and XXVI, dealing with Tennyson and 
"The Idylls of the King," should be treated 
as a whole. The phonetics to be found in 
these lessons consist of the following : 

Phonetics : (1) Lesson XXIII. Six 
words for pronunciation drill. Judicious 
selections of other words should be made 
by the teacher for additional drills. The 
phonetic sentence should be read by the 
pupils and afterward placed by the teacher 
upon the board in the ordinary spelling. 
The sentence should be used in the same 
way as was the phonetic text in the second 
part of the First Reader. 
9 



130 Teachers' Manual 

(2) Lesson XXV. A pronunciation drill. 
The teacher should examine the text care- 
fully and note where the difficulty, if any, 
conies in pronunciation or enunciation. 

(3) Lesson XXVI. No phonetics. The 
teacher should apply some method sug- 
gested in a previous drill. 

References to Malory and the history of 
the legends of Arthur are given. Sidney 
Lanier published a book called " The Boys' 
King Arthur," which is a simplified form 
of Malory. Miss Nimmo Greene has pub- 
lished some stories in prose interspersed 
with sympathetic selections from Tenny- 
son's poems. In the current volume of 
"St. Nicholas " Magazine, Howard Pyle has 
told for children the story of King Arthur 
and his knights. 

To the Teacher : 

(1) Ella Wheeler Wilcox writes: 

They can not and they shall not last — 
The broader impulse of the day 
Will gain, and grow, and sweep away 

The rank injustice of the past. 

The purport of the hour is fast, 
The world wants justice; it demands 
United hearts, united hands — 

The day of charity is past. 



Lessons XXIII, XXV, XXVI 131 

(2) Teach respect for law and respect toward both rich 
and poor. But beyond this teach respect for something 
higher than law, respect for conscience, respect for one's 
good reputation, and willingness to suffer patiently for 
that which is vl^ht. 

(3) Let every child be made to feel that he who does 
wrong punishes himself. Learn that the mind grows 
from within. 

Tennyson : One who reads Tennyson 
is struck with that great beauty of expres- 
sion of which he was a master. He had a 
great sympathy with all things human, 
which made him distinctly a poet of his 
time, with that delicate sense of the re- 
lations existing between all things that 
makes his poetry so full of suggestion. 
Nowhere in the Victorian range of litera- 
ture do we find a poet so closely in touch 
with his times as Tennyson. From the 
"Memoir" by his son (The Macmillan 
Company) we quote certain passages, and 
strongly advise the teacher, even tho all 
the material may not be used to advan- 
tage with pupils in this grade, to read the 
two volumes for the culture that may be 
obtained from them. The book brings one 
very close to the poet. 

On the 6th of August, 1809, Tennyson 
was bom in his father's rectory (at Som- 



132 Teachers' Manual 

ersby). During his boyhood, his imagina- 
tion received ample impetus. 

"Like other children, the Tennysons played imagina- 
tive games; they were knights and jousted in mock tour- 
naments or they were champion warriors, defending a 
field or a stone heap, or again they would set up oppo- 
sing camps with a king in the midst of each " (page 4). 

"Their imaginativeness gave them many sources of 
amusement. One of these lasted a long time — that of 
writing tales in letter form to be put under the vegetable- 
dishes at dinner and read aloud after it was over." 

Here is a very pretty story of Tennyson : 

"My Aunt Cecilia (Mrs. Lushington) [Hallam Tenny- 
son writes] narrates how in the winter evenings by the 
firelight, little Alfred would take her on his knee, with 
Arthur and Matilda leaning against him on either side, 
the baby Horatio between his legs, and how he would 
fascinate this group of young hero-worshipers who lis- 
tened open-eared and open-mouthed to legends of 
knights and heroes among untraveled forests, rescuing 
distressed damsels, or on gigantic mountains fighting 
with dragons; or to his tales about Indians or demons 
or witches " (page 5). 

" As to his earliest attempts at poetry he [Tennyson] 
wrote the following note for me in 1890 : 

" ' According to the best of my recollection when I 
was about eight years old, I covered two sides of a 
slate with Thomsonian blank verse in praise of flowers. 
. . . Before I could read I was in the habit on a stormy 
day of spreading my arms to the wind and crying out, " I 
hear a voice that's speaking in the wind," and the words 
"far, far away," had always a strange charm for me. 
About ten or eleven, Pope's "Homer's Iliad" became a 



Lessons XXIIL XXV, XXVI 133 

favorite of mine, and I wrote hundreds and hundreds of 
lines in the regular Popeian meter, nay even could im- 
provise them. . . .' " 

"Tlielclyll§ of the King": Tenny- 
son had for a long time entertained the idea 
of writing a poem concerning King Arthur. 
In the "Memoirs" are quoted a few para- 
graphs concerning his preparation for the 
task. Tennyson wrote that he [Arthur] 
lived about 50 A.D. and defeated his ene- 
mies in a pitched battle in the "Welsh king- 
dom of Strathclyde ; and the earliest allu- 
sions to him should be found in the Welsh 
literature of the seventh century. In the 
twelfth century Geoffrey of Monmouth col- 
lected the legends about him as a European 
conqueror in his "History of the Britons," 
and translated them from Celtic into Latin. 
"Morte d' Arthur," by Sir Thomas Malory, 
was printed by Caxton in 1485. 

In the study of the King Arthur legends 
the teacher should map out the develop- 
ment of the stories in such a way that 
there will be a progression in which the 
child will be made familiar with the chiv- 
alric spirit of the time. In "Education," 
for February, 1903, Maud Elma Kingsley 
has an article on a " Study of the Idylls of 



134 Teachers' Manual 

the King." She considers that the study of 
these legends is important because they 
mark the beginning of our romantic litera- 
ture, and form the basis of some of the 
very highest forms of our English poetry. 
This author writes : "The Idylls are full 
of episodes bringing out the different 
phases of Arthur's career in the various as- 
pects of his character. Among the latter 
we notice his regard for a promise, his ha- 
tred of a lie, his recognition of the fact 
that obedience is the crowning virtue of 
knighthood, his generosity and keen sense 
of justice. Always he is a true friend and 
a loyal husband; a blameless king and a 
stainless gentleman." 

From the same article the following par- 
agraphs are quoted : 

" The Round Table and Its Knights.— This Round 
Table was literally a round table which had been made 
by Merlin for Uther, Arthur's father. Uther gave it to 
King Leodogran, and when Arthur married Guinevere, 
he received the table as a wedding*present. This table 
would seat one hundred and fifty knights, and each seat 
was appropriated. One of these seats was called the 
'■Siege Perilous,'' because it was fatal for any one to sit 
therein except the knight who was destined to achieve 
the Holy Grail. . . . 

' 'Arthur, after his return to England, instituted an order 
of knighthood called ' The Knights of the Round Table.' 



Lessons XXlII, XXV, XXVI 135 

'' The object of the Order and the vows taken by each 
knight are best stated in the poet's own words : 
" ' Follow the Christ, the King, 

Live piire, speak true, right wrong, follow the King ' ; 
* * * 

" ' My laiights are sworn to vows 

Of utter hardihood, utter gentleness. 
And loving, utter faithfulness in love, 
And uttermost obedience to the King.' . . . 

" The Holy Grail. — When Merlin prepared the Round 
Table, he left a place vacant for the knight who should 
'achieve the Holy Grail,' or Holy Vessel brought to 
Britain by Joseph of Arimathea.* The story of the 
Sangi-eal has entered so largely into all our literature 
that any set of students will doubtless be familiar with 
the broad outlines of the myth. They will know that 
the Holy Grail was the cup from which our Savior drank 
at the Last Supper with his disciples; that this cup 
was carried away into England by Joseph of Arimathea, 
and kept there, an object of adoration and pilgrimage 
for many years : that in process of time one of its keepers 
broke the vows which bound him to be faithful in 
thought and word and deed, whereupon the Holy Grail 
disappeared; that from that time the favorite enterprise 
of the knights of the Round Table was to go in search 
of it. . . . 

"When Joseph of Arimathea, so the story goes, took 
our Lord's body down from the cross, he received into 
the holy cup many drops of blood from the bleeding 
wounds of the slain Christ. This feature is obviously 
the foundation-principle of the Sangreal conception, as 
we shall see later; this brings the ' wonder=working ves- 
sel ' into close relations with the mysteries of the eucha- 



*3fatthew xxvii. 



l36 Teachers' Manual 

list; since, according to the accepted theology of the 
Middle Ages, ' where the body or the blood of Christ is, 
there are his soul and his divinity.' ... 

"In the Idyll, 'The Holy Grail,' we are told that the 
Queen, King Arthur, and all the knights saw the sacred 
cup as they sat at supper when Galahad was received 
into the fellowship of the Round Table; whereupon Sir 
Percivale made a vow that he would ride a twelvemonth 
and a day in quest of it, which example was followed by 
Bors, Lancelot, and Galahad." 

In Brewer's "Reader's Handbook" the 
following topics are to be found : 

"Akthur's Dkinking=Horn.— No one could drink 
from this horn who was either unchaste or unfaithful. . . 

" Arthur's Round Table.— It contained seats for one 
hundred and fifty knights; three were reserved, two for 
honor and one (called the Siege Perilous) for Sir Gala- 
had, destined to achieve the quest of the Sangreal. If 
any one else attempted to sit in it, death was the certain 
penalty. ... 

* * * H| 

"ExcALiBUR, King Arthur's Famous Swords.—^ 
There seems to have been two of his swords so called. 
One was the sword sheathed in stone, which no one could 
draw thence, save he who was to be king of the land. 
Above two hundred knights tried to release it, but failed; 
Arthur alone could draw it with ease, and thus proved 
his right of succession (pt. i. 3). In ch. 7 this sword is 
called Excalibur, and is said to have been so bright 
'that it gave light like thirty torches.' After his fight 
with Pellinore, the King said to Merlin he had no sword, 
and Merlin took him to a lake, and Arthur saw an arm 



Lesson XXIV 137 

' clothed in white samite, that held a fair sword in the 
hand." Presently the Lady of the Lake appeared, and 
Arthur begged that he might have the sword, and the 
lady told him to go and fetch it. When he came to it he 
took it, ' and the arm and hand went under the water 
again.' This is the sword generally called Excalibur. 
When about to die, King Arthur sent an attendant to 
cast the sword back again into the lake, and again the 
hand ' clothed in white samite ' appeared, caught it, and 
disappeared " (ch. 23).— Sir T. Malory, " History of Prince 
Arthur." 

"ExcALiBUR's Sheath.— 'Sir,' said Merlin, 'look 
that ye keep well the scabbard of Excalibur, for ye shall 
lose no blood as long as ye have the scabbard upon you, 
tho ye have never so many wounds.' " — Sir T. Malory, 
"History of Prince Arthur," i. 36 (1470). 



LESSON XXIV 



The Liesson : A subject such as the 
spectrum should be treated with the very- 
greatest care. In the Standard First Reader 
a lesson on colors was given in which 
occurred a simple explanation of tints and 
shades. A diagram explanatory of this 
was drawn ; it would be well for the teacher 
to consult it. [Vid. page 33, Standard First 
Reader; Manual, page 69.] The lesson 
itself deals with the prism and the colors 



138 Teachers' Manual 

that are separated from the white light. 
A prism is inexpensive, and the teacher 
should have several for class use. Held in 
a certain position, as is shown in the colored 
picture, the prism will throw a spectrum 
upon the floor. 

In Milton Bradley's ' ' The Color Primer " 
(Milton Bradley Company), the author has 
the following to say concerning the solar 
spectrum (page 9) : 

" The solar spectrum has been called nature's chart of 
color, and while this may not be even approximately 
true, yet in it we must recognize the only source of per- 
manent standards on which a logical system of color* 
study and color-nomenclature can be formulated. 

" The scientist with his expensive and elaborate appa- 
ratus can produce in a very dark room a wonderfully 
brilliant and beautiful solar spectrum, so intense and 
immovable that it can be carefully studied and analyzed 
for hours and days, and it was these conditions which 
enabled. a company of interested educators to evolve the 
scheme of color*study here advocated. Equally favor- 
able conditions and apparatus are not necessary for 
elementary color^instruction, altho the writer has often 
wished that every teacher and every child could for once 
see a solar spectrum as perfect as can be produced with 
the apparatus of the modern physical laboratory. 

"This being ordinarily impracticable, each teacher 
must use the best available facilities, and may always be 
sure that a spectrum, however imperfect, will be inter- 
esting to the children. For these experiments a very 
good prism can be bought for fifteen to thirty cents. , . . 



Lesson XXIV 139 

" The explanation of the phenomenon of the spectrum 
is that the beam of white sunlight is composed of a great 
number of different kinds of rays of various colors, 
which, in passing through the prism, are refracted or 
bent from their direct course, some more than others, 
the red least of all and the violet most, and thus the 
white sunlight is made to present a beautiful band of 
color called the solar spectrum. It is supposed that light 
is projected through space by waves or undulations in 
an extremely rare medium called ethe7\ which occupies 
all space and transparent bodies. These waves are 
thought to be somewhat similar to sound=waves in the 
air or the ripples on the smooth surface of a pond when 
a pebble is throvni into it. According to this theory a 
ray of light in passing through a prism is refracted from 
a straight line in proportion to the number of waves or 
undulations per second, and in inverse proportion to the 
length of the waves. The red waves are the longest and 
are refracted the least, while the violet are the shortest 
and are refracted the most. 

"The colors in a solar prismatic spectrum are always 
the same under like conditions, and the' order of their 
arrangement is never changed. By this quality of wave= 
length which is constant, any spectrum color can be 
definitely located in the spectrum, and hence can always 
be referred to by its recorded wave-length, and therefore 
can be used as a permanent, unvarying standard of 
color. . . . 

"Altho a prism is such a very simple affair, the 
teacher will do well to try it in the schoolroom without 
the children the first time so that the best position for 
its use may be discovered. [M,d. page 21.] If it is not 
practicable to throw the spectrum on a white wall, a 
sheet of white cardboard should be hung so as to receive 
it. Having previously determined the best conditions at 



140 Teachers' Manual 

a given time of the day, the management of the prism 
will be an easy matter when the lesson»hour arrives. 

" It is not possible to produce in a well'lighted room a 
spectrum sufficiently brilliant to clearly define the six 
standard colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and 
violet, but even under these conditions a beautiful spot 
of various colors may be seen and some of the colors 
named by the children. With closed blinds or dark 
curtains drawn, very good results may be secured, and 
the children can see that red is at the bottom of the pot 
of color, and that the other colors follow in order with a 
wide band of rather indefinite violet at the top. They 
can be told that the sunlight contains practically all the 
colors that are seen in the world, and that the reason we 
see the red of the rose is because the flower eats up all 
the colors except the red, which it gives back to us for 
our pleasure. The statement that all surfaces except 
white absorb some of the colored rays and reflect others 
may be reserved for a much later lesson in natural 
science." 

Color^lVork: The following color= 
suggestions are given : The pupil will gain 
a much better idea of the spectrum, and 
the colors will be the more readily remem- 
bered, if color=drills are based upon the six 
spectrum colors similar to those suggested 
in the Teachers' Manual for the First Reader. 

(a) Let the teacher have slips of colored 
paper showing the primary colors. 

"By general consent," says Milton Brad- 
ley, in his "Elementary Colors," "colored 
papers have been chosen as the most avail- 



II 



Lesson XXIV 141 

able material for this work, because while 
relatively cheap the purest colors possible 
in pigments are secured." The same au- 
thor also adds (page 79) in speaking of the 
spectrum: "Observation of the spectrum 
enthuses the children with a feeling for 
color which can be developed in no other 
way, and they never tire with watching the 
wonderful vibrating effect of the liquid 
colors ; and by studying it the mental image 
of each of the six colors becomes as distinct 
as that of the cube after it has been han- 
dled and modeled." 

(5) Cut from colored paper squares of 
violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, 
and red, and have the pupil arrange them 
in the order shown in the spectrum. If the 
letter combination vihgyor is remembered, 
the pupil will have no difficulty in placing 
the colors, since the component letters are 
initials of the colors themselves. 

To train in the harmony of colors, the 
children might cut out colored squares, cir- 
cles, or triangles, and arrange them in de- 
signs which could be pasted upon a white 
or gray background and taken home. The 
educational value of certain kindergarten 
plays of this character is deeply significant. 



142 Teachers' Manual 

(c) Have the children name objects In 
the schoolroom, and group them according 
to color ; ask what flowers are red, orange, 
yellow, etc., the same with fruit, and turn- 
ing to the colored pictures throughout the 
Second Reader let the pupils pick out those 
things in the picture which are green, those 
which are blue, etc. 

The child should be given work to do 
with the brush after drawing simple de- 
signs upon paper. It was suggested in the 
first lesson that the flag be drawn and 
either colored with a brush or with crayon. 
Upon a rod a number of strands of colored 
worsted might be tied, and each child in 
turn be sent to pick out those strands that 
are of a particular color. A case is on 
record where in a school this was tried, 
and several cases of color=blindness were 
detected. In the first of Froebel's "gifts" 
every kindergartener knows that the spec- 
trum colors are introduced on different= 
colored balls. The child likes bright colors 
first, and is drawn to that object which 
contains the brightest color. When he has 
become a little older, tho, he begins to 
distinguish between the colors, and gradu- 
ally there is developed a finer recognition 



11 



Lesson XXIV 143 

of tints and shades. Mrs. Wilson, in her 
"Nature Study in Elementary Schools" 
(The Macmillan Company), says: 

" In color, I am convinced that the initial work, at 
least, should never be from small objects, but should 
deal with large masses in obvious perspective. With 
white chalk and blue paper all the different clouds may 
be represented; with the ordinary colored crayons, a 
series of pictures accurately representing the change of 
seasons as shown, even in cities, by the progressive 
changes in color, may be made by the children. After 
this, they may more safely attempt to portray smaller 
objects, such as the trees, and finally, perhaps, the ani- 
mals and flowers which they are studying. 

"With the older children I have found color^work 
with the plants and animals a great waste of time, from 
the science standpoint at any rate. They see and learn 
much more when they attempt to make an accurate 
drawing. 

"With the little children the reverse is true." 

Phonetics : Have the phonetic sen- 
tence read from the scientific spelling, 
emphasizing those vowel sounds in which 
there is a weakening toward i or u, and 
also drill upon the diphthongal sound ai. 

The sentences given form a review of 
Lesson XXV in the Standard First Reader. 

To the Teacher : (1) Do not allow 

an overcrowding in studies so as to take 
the play out of life. 



144 Teachers' Manual 

(3) It is a law of nature that what we 
give yields harvest for ns — not what we 
desire; what we give, not what we want, 
comes back to ns. We can not give what 
we have not. 

(8) Teach pupils that they are not so 
much to copy examples as they are to set 
examples. 



LESSON XXYII 



Revievi^ : The different words should 
be carefully sounded, besides which pho- 
netic sentences should be written upon the 
board, to be read therefrom, and turned 
into the ordinary spelling. 

Amusement: Should the teacher at 
any time in the foregoing or in any of the 
following lessons see that the children are 
becoming fatigued, she should have some 
form of recreation for them in the shape 
of games. Of books concerning the school- 
room games there are many. In ' ' St. Nich- 
olas " Magazine we find the following sug- 
gestive titles : 



Lesson XXVII 



145 



(a) " Bubble-Blowing " (A. B. Beard), vol. 13, pp. 540-2. 
(J) "Paper Balloons" (D. C. Beard), 7, 728-34. 

(c) "Shadow-Pictures or Silhouettes'' (J. Stacy), 10, 
385-9. 

(d) "Soap Bubbles" (D. C. Beard), 8, 524-5. 

Concerning form, consider the following, 
suggested in "Outlines of a Year's Work in 
the Kindergarten," by Anna W. Devereaux 
(J. L. Hammett Company), regarding 
measurement and drawing : 

(1) Draw a square upon a piece of card- 
board and cut it out, then another square 
of the same size, and place these squares 
in different positions in relation one to the 
other, as for example : 




(2) Take two straight lines each one 
inch in length, and place them in different 
positions with reference to each other, as 
for example : 



rv 



10 



146 



Teachers' Manual 



(3) Let the child describe graphically 
the difference between a cube and a cylin- 
der, a square and a triangle. 

(4) Take yellow circles and paste them 
upon a red background in different rela- 
tions one to the other, as for example : 



(5) Stick4aying : Toothpicks will answer 
the purpose here. Many interesting de- 
signs may be obtained, afterward to be 
drawn upon the board or upon pad, as for 
example : 





Lesson XXVIII 147 



LESSON XXYIII 



A new treatment of birds is suggested in 
this lesson. One of the chief character- 
istics of many birds is the song, and studied 
from this viewpoint the four birds here 
mentioned stand as fair representatives of 
our songsters. What would the seasons be 
without the triumphant burst of bird 
melody in the springtime, the early morn- 
ing carol, evening vespers, the cheery chii-p 
of some bird in the sunlight, the mellow 
note of some rippling song in the heart of 
a forest ? Many a bird is caught because 
of his beautiful song, and put into a cage 
with the careless and illogical belief that 
his happy song will be continued as well 
behind bars as on the other side; this 
is wrong. Many a bird once caught will 
remain silent for days, silent because his 
freedom is lost. 

A bird flying from one clime to another 
comes within range of a gun and is shot. 
Should a traveler armed with a passport 



148 Teachers' Manual "I 

from our Secretary of State pass from one 
country to another and be shot, the United ■ ] 
States would take immediate action and 
demand not only explanation but justice 
from the government of the country in 
which the man was shot. An unwritten 
bird passport, it has been suggested, should 
be universally adopted throughout the 
world. 

Before discussing the songs of birds, the 
following descriptions are quoted from 
Neltje Blanchan's "Bird Neighbors" and 
A. R. Dugmore's "Bird Homes," two books 
which, as we have had occasion to empha- 
size before, will prove of inestimable value 
to the teacher : 

Thru§hes : 

"This group includes our finest songsters. Birds of 
moderate size, stoutly built; as a rule inhabitants of 
woodlands. . . . Only casual fruit^eaters. Slender, 
strong legs for running and hopping. True thrushes are 
grayish or olive=brown above, buff or whitish below, 
heavily streaked or spotted." 

Of the many thrushes the hermit=thnish 
and the wood^thrush are the two that the 
teacher should mention in the classroom. 

The descriptions of the birds are based 
on material in "Bird Neighbors." 



Lesson XXVIII 149 

T¥ood=Tlirusli (Song=Tliru§li): 

Family.— Thrush. Turdus 7nustelinus. 

Range. — Eastern North America. 

Migration. — Amval: April or early May. Depar- 
ture: October. 

Size. — 8-8.3 inches; 2 inches shorter than robin. 

Nest. — Location: In sapling or in the crotch of any 
tree. Material : Eootlets, mud, fine grass, paper, rage, 
snake=skins. 

'Egga.—Mimber : 3 to 5. Color: Greenish blue. 

Male and female : Brownish above, red- 
dish on head and shoulders, shading into 
olive=brown on tail; throat, breast, and 
nndemeath white ; whitish eye=ring. 

Solitary, retiring songster at first, bnt 
now fonnd in parks and country places — 
almost familiarly. Some conservative 
wood=thrushes keep their wild haunts. 
Every gesture is graceful and elegant. 
"Even a wriggling beetle is eaten as dain- 
tily as caviar at a king's table." The song 
is pure, liquid, and rich, and, as Neltje 
Blanchan says, in words it is like the fol- 
lowing : ' ' Uoli'a'e=^oAi'noli'noUaeolee'lee ! " 

Thru§h (Hermit) : 

Family.— Thrush. Turdus aonalaschksR pallasii. 
Range.— Eastern North America. 
Migration.— AmvaL- April. Summer resident. De- 
parture: November. 



150 Teachers' Manual 

Size.— 7.25-7.5 incheB; one'»quarter smaller than robin. 
'NeBt— Location : On ground, in damp, woody places. 
Material : Pine=needles, moss, leaves, roots. 
^gga.—N^iimber ; 3 to 4. Color: Bluish green. 

Male and female: "Upper parts olive= 
brown, reddening near the tail. . . . 
Throat, sides of neck, and breast pale buff. 
Feathers of throat and neck finished with 
dark arrow^points at tip; feathers of the 
breast have larger rounded spots. Sides 
brownish gray, underneath white. A yel- 
low ring around the eye. Smallest of the 
thrushes." 

The hermit=thrush is the first to come in 
the spring, the last to go in the fall. He 
gives the evening hymn. John Burroughs 
says of his song : 

" It is not a proud, gorgeous strain like the tanager's 
or the grosbeak's. It suggests not passion or emotion- 
nothing personal, but seems to be the voice of that calm, 
sweet solemnity one attains to in his best moments. It 
realizes a peace and a deep, solemn joy that only the 
finest souls may know." 

Meadow'^Ijark : 

Family.— Blackbird. Stwnella magna. 
Range.— Eastern North America. 
WigtSition.— Arrival : April. Usually resident. De- 
parture: October. 
Size.— 10-11 inches; larger than robin. 



Lesson XXVIII 151 



Food.— Grasshoppers, beetles, ants, leaves. 

l>iest.— Location : On the ground in open fields. Ma- 
terial: Grass. 

:Egg8.— Number : 4 to 6. Color: White, speckled at 
the large end with reddish brown and lilac. 

Male: "Upper parts brown, varied with 
chestnut, deep brown, and black ; crown 
streaked with brown and black ; . . . dark 
brown line apparently running through the 
eye; ... a large, conspicuous black cres- 
cent on breast; underneath yellow. . . 
Long, strong legs and claws adapted for 
walking. Less black in winter plumage. 
Female paler than the male." 

Neltje Blanchan, in her "Bird Neigh- 
bors," writes as follows: 

" The meadow'larks, which are really not larks at all 
but blackbirds' and orioles' cousins, are so protected by 
the coloring of the feathers on their backs, like that of 
the grass and stubble they live among, that ten black- 
birds are noticed for every meadow-lark, altho the latter 
is very common. . . . Their clear and piercing whistle, 
' Spring o' the y-e-a-r, spring o' the year! ' rings out from 
the trees with varying intonation and accent, but always 
sweet and inspiriting." 

Consult A. R. Dugmore's "Bird Homes." 
Catbird : 

Family.— Mocking-bird. Galeoscoptes carolinensis. 
Range.— British Provinces to Mexico. 



152 Teachers' Manual 



■I 



i 



Migration.— ^mi;aZ ; May. Departure: November. 

Size. — 9 inches; 1 inch shorter than robin. 

Food.— Grasshoppers, mulberry, cherry, strawberry, 

Nest. — Location : In briers or low bushes. Material : 
Sticks, leaves, roots, weeds, and bark; it is lined with 
roots. 

^gg&.— Number : 3 to 5. Color : Dark greenish blue. 

Male and female: "Dark slate above; 
below somewhat paler ; top of head black ; 
distinct chestnut patch under the tall, 
which is black; feet black also; wings 
short, more than two inches shorter than 
tail." 

Neltje Blanchan calls this bird a jester, 
a caricaturist, a mocking=bird, a veritable 
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ; at one moment 
proud and haughty, at another assuming a 
most hangdog air. 

A. R. Dugmore, in his "Bird Homes," 
writes of catbirds as follows; 

"These well-named and well»known birds rank high 
in the list of our songsters; their song, which tho small 
in volume is full of sweetness, may be heard at almost 
any time of the day and in almost any thicket." 

Cardinal : 

Family.— Finch. Cardinal cardinalis. 
Range.— Eastern North America. 
Migration.— Resident. Travels in flocks. 
Size. — 8-9 inches; smaller than robin. 
Food.— Seeds. 



Lesson XXVIII 153 



'^Qst— Location : Bush, usually in thick tangle. Ma- 
terial: Twigs, tendrils, grape-vine, bark, leaves, grass, 
roots; lined with grass and roots. 

^ggs. -Number : 3 to 4. Color: Whitish, tinged with 
blue, green, and ashy; irregular spots of brown and pur- 
plish gray. 

Male: " Brilliant cardinal ; . . . beak stout 
and red; crest conspicuous. In winter 
dress, wings washed with gray." 
i Female: "Brownish yellow above, sha- 
I ding to gray below. Tail shorter than the 
male's. Crest, wings, and tail reddish; 
breast sometimes tinged with red. " 

This lesson is written from the stand- 
point of birds' songs. Little has been 
\ written about birds' songs in particular ; 
I only references have been made to this 
! characteristic, of a bird. However, in 
"Wood Notes Wild; Notations of Bird 
Music," by Simeon Pease Cheney, edited by 
John Vance Cheney (Lee & Shepard, 1892) . 
imuch valuable material may be obtained 
in regard to this subject ; for the author, 
with a very evident knowledge of music, 
went into the fields, and, finding his birds, 
wrote in musical notes the sounds as they 
appeared to him. If such sounds are played 
upon the piano in the classroom, interest 



154 Teachers' Manual 

will be awakened. The following is gleaned 
from this work : 

Bro\i^n Thrusli : He might be called 
the Browning among birds, "As the fervor 
increases, his long and elegant tail droops ; 
all his feathers separate ; his tail plumage 
is lifted ; it floats and trembles ; his head is 
raised and his bill is wide open" (page 54). 

Wood=Tlirusli or Song^-Thrusli : 
' ' Probably the most popular songster of all 
of the thrushes. Not so varied, but the qual- 
ity of the tone is indescribably beautiful," 

IIeriiiit==Thriisli : Despite critics to 
the contrary who claim the hermit=thrush 
a mute bird, Mr. Cheney states that it is 
the most eminent vocalist among all birds 
found in New England : 

"The hermit, after striking his flr'st low, long, and 
firm tone, startling the listener with an electric thrill, 
bounds upward with thirds, fourths, and fifths, and 
sometimes a whole octave, gurgling out his tribulation, 
with ever>=upward movement. Occasionally on reaching 
a height his song bursts like a rocket, and the air is full 
of silver tones. A second flight and the key changes 
with a fresh, wild, and enchanting effect," [See pages 60 
and 61 for the description of the long, clear tone in a^ 
deep, still forest.] 

Catbird : He has not a strong voice, so 
Mr. Cheney writes, nor has he really a 



Lesson XXVIII 155 

tone. Possessing something of the style of 
the brown thrush, he is not his equal in 
tone, making use of the notes of various 
other birds. His performance is given in 
a lively manner, with an occasional trill, 
sweet and musical. Much of his singing, 
however, is merely twitter. 

"This bird received his name doubtless 
from the striking resemblance his own 
tone bears to certain cries of a cat " (see 
page 53). 

Meaclo^v=L<ark : ' ' Probably our largest 
singing bird. His voice is neilher loud nor 
deep, some of the tones being rather sharp 
and weak." 

The meadow=lark's song is essentially 
tender and plaintive. In the early dewy 
morning or toward evening he will stand a 
long time upon a stem or large rock^heap, 
singing at intervals little snatches of mel- 
ody, occasionally like the oriole and the 
kingfisher giving a "low, rapid, chatter 
ing monotone." "It is a favorite pastime 
with him to repeat four tones many times 
in succession, with rests intervening" (see 
I pages 33-34). 

From "Familiar Life in Field and For- 
est" (F. Schuyler Mathews) : 



156 Teachers' 'Manual 



" I must quote what he [John Burroughs] says [of the 
hermit-thrush] ; ' A strain has reached my ears from out 
the depths of the forest that to me is the finest sound in 
nature — the song of the hermit-thrush. . . . It appeals 
to the sentiment of the beautiful in me, and suggests a 
serene religious beatitude as no other sound in nature 
does. It is perhaps more of an evening than a morning 
hymn, tho I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very 
simple, and I can hardly tell the secret of its charm. 
'O spheral, spheral!' he seems to say; 'O holy, holy! 
O clear away ! O clear away ! ' interspersed with the finest 
trills and the most delicate preludes." 

Plionetics: The first definite drill 
upon the first diphthongal sound is given. 
In such word's as why, sides, like, etc, the 
sound represented by the symbol i has 
usually been called the long sound of i; 
but upon a careful analysis of the subject 
it will be found that there are two sounds, 
the a in father, plus the i in machine. 
The teacher should be careful that while 
one sound is produced the values of the 
component parts are distinctly heard in 
pronunciation. Attention should be called 
to the hw sound in such words as why 
and while. 



Lesson XXIX 157 



LESSON XXIX 



The Lesson : The events leading to 
the signing of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence are so well known to every American 
teacher that they scarcely need repetition. 
A few facts, however, are here given, not 
so much because they are new, as because 
being so well known they might escape 
the attention of the teacher. 

DECLARATION, How the, Was Adopted.— "It was 
desirable that a fact of such supreme iraportance as the 
birth of thirteen new nations should not remain merely 
a matter of logical inference. It must be embodied in a 
declaration incapable of misinterpretation, not open to 
be explained away by ingenious constructions or canceled 
by technical arguments. Independence could not be 
left to be gathered among the recitals of a preamble. . . . 
On June 7 Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, moved ' cer- 
tain resolutions respecting independency.' John Adams 
seconded the motion. Its consideration was referred to 
the next morning at ten o'clock, when members were 
'enjoined to attend punctually.' A debate of three 
days ensued. It appeared that four New England colo- 
nies and three southern colonies were prepared to vote 
at once in the afllrmative ; but unanimity was desirable 
and could probably be obtained by a little delay. So a, 



158 Teachers Manual 

postponement was voted until July 1. . . . Three com- 
mittees were appointed; one was charged with drafting 
the document itself, so that it should be ready for adop- 
tion on July 1. The members of this committee, in 
order of precedence, were Thomas Jefferson, John 
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert 
R. Livingston. On July 1 debate was resumed in com- 
mittee of the whole on the original resolution of Mr. 
Lee, which was reported to Congress and carried by that 
oody on the next day. The Declaration was then at 
once reported and discussed until late on July 4. The 
question of independence was really settled July 2, but 
posterity has selected July 4, the anniversary of the 
adoption of Jefferson's Declaration."— J'o7t?i T. Morse, 
Jr., in Life of John Adams. [See "Holy^Days and 
Holidays "" (Funk & Wagnalls Company), page 635.] 

The hall in which they held their meet- 
ing was thenceforth to be known as Inde- 
pendence Hall, and the old Liberty Bell 
that rang the joyful tidings is still pre- 
served. 

Make certain phrases and sentences of 
the Declaration familiar to the children, 
such, for instance, as : "All men are created 
equal"; "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness are inalienable " ; "Government 
derives its just power from the consent of 
the governed." 

Independence Day : Quoting froi 
a letter of John Adams to his wife, we fine 
the following; 



Lesson XXIX 159 

" The second day of July, 1776, will be the most mem- 
orable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to 
believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding genera- 
tions as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be 
commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts 
of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized 
with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, bells, 
bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this conti- 
nent to the other, from this time forward forevermore. 
You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I 
am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and 
treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, 
and support and defend these States. Yet through all 
the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. 
I can see that the end is more than worth all the means ; 
and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, 
even tho we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall 
not." [See " HolyDays and Holidays," page 636.] 

Phonetics : While phonetics are not 
indicated in the lesson, the teacher will 
find npon examining the text that there 
are many words which should be placed 
upon the board with their phonetic spell- 
ings for pronunciation purposes, for exam- 
ple : England, Virginia, declared, Jefferson, 
Declar^ation, Independence, etc. Also let 
the teacher write upon the blackboard 
such sentences as : " One day in Philadel- 
phia it was decided that the King of Eng- 
land could no longer be King over the 
people in America." Have each vowel 



160 Teachers Manual 

sound pronounced distinctly and clearly, 
and again resort to that method by which 
the child is sent to the opposite side of the 
room, and made to pronounce in ordinary 
tone each word distinctly. Select from 
the text words containing the first vowel 
sound, and have them written in phonetic 
spelling. See that every word of the text 
is understood. The best test for this is for 
the teacher to use the word in a sentence, 
or to have the child use the word himself. 
In the obscure sounds where there is varia- 
tion, care should be taken that the variant 
sound is given rather than the sound toward 
ivhich it varies. 



LESSON XXX 



Tlie Poein here used was published 
in "St. Nicholas" Magazine (The Century 
Company), and is given to be memorized 
by the pupil after it has been read by the 
teacher, and pronunciation drills based 
upon it. Either the entire poem might be 
placed in phonetics upon the board or 
individual words with phonetic spelling 



Lesson XXX 161 



be written upon cards, and passed around 
the class; such words as: rattle, ledge, 
rtiffle, iceberg, polar, glittering, castle. Bnt 
it should be borne in mind by the teacher 
that in reading, the child should be first 
impressed with the general spirit of the 
piece, and this is best brought out in this 
case by related subjects or topics: 

(1) Consult " St. Nicholas " Magazine in- 
dexes under skating, icebergs, etc. 

(2) In Mrs. L. L. Wilson's "Nature Study 
in Elementary Schools" (The Macmillan 
Company) , the following poems are found : 
' ' November, " by Thomas Hood ; ' ' Novem- 
ber," by Alice Cary; "November," by 
William Cullen Bryant; "In November 
Day," by John G. Whittier. 

From these poems particular lines could 
be selected that are simple, and yet give 
thoroughly the spirit of the season. For 
stories see "The Story Hour," by Mrs. Wig- 
gin and Miss Smith. 

November suggesting the harvest=time, 
turn to the lesson on nut=trees ; show the 
oak=trees in autumn colors; have autumn 
leaves collected and brought to the class- 
room. The change in temperature indi- 
cates variation of weather in autumn days, 
11 



162 Teachers' Manual 

and the use of the thermometer by this 
time should be taught the child. Talk 
about Nature and her preparations for 
winter. Other subjects of interest for 
talks could be (1) sparrow (see bird lesson) ; 
(2) ice and icebergs (see lesson, polar bear 
and Eskimos) ; (3) skating (see lesson on 
Holland) ; (4) November (see lesson, food= 
trees). 

To the Teacher : 

(1) We need teachers who know the world, and who 
are heartily in sympathy with it. 

(2) A radical change of method is needed in spellings 
reform; let the progress be slow (conservative), hut let it 
be progress. 

(3) Never lose an opportunity to impress upon the 
mind of the pupil the dignity of the human intellect, the 
transcendent power of ideas. Show tliat Nature is full 
of suggestions to the mind of man. A mole burrowing 
under the ground may give a suggestion of the great 
system of tunnels for our railroads; the iiying bird, a 
suggestion for the flying kite and the flying man of the 
future. A beetle, by converting a mass of matter into 
spheres which it is thus able to roll, may suggest primi- 
tive wagon-wheels cut out of a sphere, but it is the brain 
of man that carries up this idea to bicycles, and huge 
steamers, and great locomotives. Teach the child that 
the same Providence that made outside nature made 
also the nature inside the brain, and that outside nature 
is a great schoolhouse in which all the human race is put 
to school. 



Lesso7i XXXI 163 



LESSON XXXI 



The Licsson: This lesson should be 
treated according to the suggestions given 
in the first of the science lessons. Outline 
some simple experiments, showing by 
means of a thermometer placed in water 
at what point water freezes, and gradually 
heat the water until the boiling=point has 
been reached. The topic analogous to 
freezing naturally follows; this may be 
explained by taking a pan of chipped ice 
or a pan of snow=ice, and in the center 
placing a tumbler of lukewarm water, 
holding a thermometer. Let the children 
watch the gradual fall of the mercury, and 
tell them that this is caused by the absorp- 
tion of the heat by the ice. Then follows 
the analogous topic : why vapor is changed 
into snowflakes. The atmosphere becomes 
so cold that the aqueous vapor in the air is 
frozen and takes the feathery appearance 
of snowflakes. The teacher should outline 
a lesson dealing with snow and snow= 



164 Teachers' Manual 

crystals; the following suggestions are 
offered. [See Lewis Carroll's selection on 
page 95 of the Reader.] 

In Ganot's "Physics," the following 
terms are defined : 

" Snow is water solidified in stellate crystals, variously 
modified, and floating in the atmosphere. These crys- 
tals arise from the congelation of the minute vesicles 
which constitute the clouds when the temperature of 
the latter is below zero. They are more regular when 
formed in a calm atmosphere." [The illustration at the 
head of the lesson gives some of the forms of crystals.] 

The snotV'line is that point above the level of the 
sea at which the snow does not melt, even in summer. 

Sleet is solidified water made of icy needles pressed 
together in a confused manner. 

" JTail is a mass of compact globules of ice of different 
sizes which fall in the atmosphere. . . . 

"/ce is an aggregation of snow=crystals. . . . The 
transparency of ice is due to the close contact of these 
crystals, which causes the individual particles to blend 
into an unbroken mass, rendering the substance optic- 
ally as well as mechanically continuous. When large 
masses of ice slowly melt away, a crystalline form is 
sometimes seen by the gradual disintegration into rude 
hexagonal prisms; a similar structure is frequently met 
with ... in the ice^caves or glaciers of cold regions." 

The teacher could tell the children of the 
time when certain portions of the world 
were covered with ice. This may now be 
proved by the way in which rocks are planed 
down and scratched or chiseled with lines. 



4 



I 



Lesson XXXI 165 



Experiment and ObserTation : 

From "Object Lessons in Elementary Sci- 
ence" (The Macmillan Company), we take 
these suggestions, which likewise were 
referred to in the Teachers' Manual for the 
First Reader : 

"Put a cork into water; what happens? It floats. 
Put a stone in; what happens? It sinks. Why does 
cork swim and stone sink? Cork is lighter than water; 
stone is heavier. Now, put this piece of ice into the 
water. It floats. [This proves that ice is lighter than 
water.] Lead up from this to make the class talk about 
the frozen ponds in winter^time. Where do we find the 
ice? On the surface. Is the whole pond solid ice? No. 
Tell of the fishes and plants that live in the water; what 
would become of them if the whole of the water in the 
pond froze into solid ice? They would be frozen and 
destroyed. There is only a sheet of ice covering the sur- 
face of the water. It is lighter than the water itself, 
and so it floats on the top. When it breaks we see the 
water below. Tell that this sheet of ice on the top ac- 
tually protects the water against the cold. Without it 
fishes and water=plants would die. . . . 

"Lead the class to talk about a snow-storm. . . . 
Carry the class back to talk about the evaporation con- 
stantly going on all around us — the vapor rising at first 
invisibly; then condensing into fog, mist, or cloud. 

" Let them imagine the air around this condensed va- 
por to become suddenly cold — cold enough to freeze the 
tiny particles of condensed vapor. . . . Tell the uses of 
snow in protecting the earth and the plants from frost." 

From "Nature Study in Elementary 



166 



Teachers' Manual 



Schools," by Mrs. L. L. Wilson, we take 
the following facts : 

"■ The relation between raindrops and snowflakes is 
very close. For example, the rains of winter are often 
due to the fact that the snow melts before reaching the 
earth, so that from the same clouds may fall snow on 
the highlands and rain in the valleys. Snowflakes have 
sis parts. This is because the iccneedles acting like 
small magnets are attracted and repelled by laws of their 
own, forming regular and very beautiful forms on the 
hexagonal plane." 

Literature : As suggested by Mrs. 
Wilson, consult Hawthorne's story "Snow 
Image," a poem by Tennyson called "Win- 
ter," and a poem by Lowell called "The 
First Snowfall." 



LESSON XXXII 



OXEYE DAISY 

Name.— Daisy. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum. 

Family.— Thistle. 

Species.— White or oxeye. 

Flower'head.—Disk«=florets yellow, surrounded by white 
rayflorets. 

Stem. — Smooth, rarely branched, 1 to 3 feet high. 

Leaves.— Mostly oblong in outline, coarsely toothed 
and divided. 



Lesson XXXII 167 

Preferred habitat. — Meadows, pastores, roadsides, 
waste land. 

Flowering season. — May to November. 

Distribution. —Throughout the United States and 
Canada. 

BLACK=ETED SUSAN 

Name. — Daisy. Rudbeclda hirta. 

Family.— Thistle. 

Species. — Oxeye or black=eyed Susan. 

Flower==head. — From 10 to 20 orange=yellow, neuti'al 
rays around dark purplish=brown disk of florets, contain- 
ing stamens and pistil. 

Stem. — 1 to 3 feet tall, hairy, rough, usually un- 
branched, often tufted. 

Leaves. — Oblong to lance^shaped, thick, sparingly 
notched, rough. 

Preferred habitat. — Open sunny places, dry fields. 

Flowering season. — May to September. 

Distribution. — Ontario and the Northwest Territory 
south to Colorado and the Gulf States. 

DANDELION 

Name.— Dandelion. Taraxacum Taraxacum. 

Family.— Chicory. 

Species. — Common. 

Flower'head. — Solitary, golden<=yellow, 1 to 2 inches 
across, containing 150 to 200 perfect rayflorets on a flat 
receptacle at the top of a hollow milky scape, 2 to 18 
inches tall. 

Leaves. — From a verj- deep, thick, bitter root, oblong 
in outline, irregularly jagged. 

Preferred habitat.— Lawns, fields, grassy waste places. 

Flowering season.— Every month in the year. 

Distribution.— Around the civilized world. 



168 Teachers* Manual 

BUTTERCUP 

Name.— Buttercup. Banunmius acris. 

Family.— Crowfoot. 

Species. —Common meadow, 

Flower»=heacl.— Bright, shining' yellow, about 1 inch 
across, numerous, terminating long slender footstalks. 

Stem. — Erect, branched above, hairy (sometimes nearly 
smooth), 2 to 3 feet tall, from fibrous roots. 

Leaves. — In a tuft from the base, ]ong»petioled, of 
3 to 7 divisions, cleft into numerous lobes. 

Preferred habitat.— Meadows, fields, roadsides, grassy 
places. 

Flowering season. — May to September. 

Distribution. — Naturalized from Europe, in Canada 
and the United States. 

The material above is condensed from 
Neltje Blanchan's "Nature's Garden." 

The Pan§y belongs to the family of 
violets, and in color varies. It grows in a 
rich and moist ground and blooms from 
April to August. 

The Buttercup : Procure the flower, 
if possible; if not, place before the class 
a picture of the same for study. It is 
most common in the northern part of the 
United States. Neltje Blanchan, in her 
book ' ' Nature's Garden " (Doubleday, Page 
& Company), writes that the buttercup, 
because of its poisonous or bitter juice, is 
not a favorite among cattle. Unfortu- 



I 



Lesson XXXII 169 

nately such a beautiful flower as this is 
used by the hypocrite beggar to produce 
sores upon his skin. There are many vari- 
eties of buttercups, among them being the 
creeping buttercup, which spreads by run- 
ners, and the swamp= or marsh^buttercup. 
[Consult Mathews' "Familiar Flowers of 
Field and Garden" and Parsons' "Accord- 
ing to Seasons."] 

The Dandelion : The teacher will 
remember the descriptive poem by James 
Russell Lowell, which begins : 

"Dear common flower that grow'st beside the way, 
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold." 

She will find it of advantage to use this 
description in connection with the actual 
examination of the flower itself. 

The roots of the dandelion penetrate to 
great depths ; if the plant is cut off at the 
surface of the earth, from the root left in 
the ground several branches will spring 
up. This is one of the hardest of our 
flowers to stamp out of any neighborhood. 
The derivation of the word dandelion is 
from the French dent de lion (lion's tooth), 
and is so called on account of the jagged 
edges of the leaves. 



170 Teachers' Manual 

The Daisy ; This common flower is 
also called "love=me, love=me=not. " It is 
interesting to know that this flower belongs 
to the thistle family and that it is associa- 
ted with the same kind of superstition as 
the common thistle. Many a child will 
approach a thistle, phick it, and with one 
breath blow to see how many of the 
"feathers" remain. The number standing 
represents the number of sweethearts the 
child has. Continuing a little farther, she 
picks a daisy, and with patience, to a cer- 
tain extent excitement, goes around the 
whorl of petals to see whether her sweet- 
heart loves her or not. [Consult "Folk= 
Lore of Plants."] No flower has been con- 
sidered so much by poets as this wee, 
modest blossom. Chaucer, Shakespeare, 
Bums, and Wordsworth have all joined in 
its praises. [See Lesson XLIII for Bliss 
Carman's poem on "Daisies."] 

To the Teacber : In the study of the 
flowers here suggested, if the lesson does 
not fall during their season, it should be re- 
viewed when that time arrives. It will be 
noted that these flowers have been selected 
with the idea that they may all be found 
in one month, the month of June. Study 



Lesson XXXII 171 

the picture. Talk about it and bring out 
the main points through similarity and 
contrast. Ask such questions as : "Among 
the flowers in the picture, how many con- 
tain yellow or orange ? " — Answer : Pansy, 
buttercup, dandelion, daisy, honeysuckle, 
etc. 

On the blackboard let the teacher draw 
in outline the pansy and the daisy, and 
have the pupils draw upon pad or black- 
board the outline also. If the leaves can 
be procured, have them traced. In this 
way the child will become familiar with 
the shape of the flowers and with those 
features which distinguish the one from 
the other. 

Outdoor work is to be encouraged. 

FoIk=L<ore of Flowers : Concerning 
the folk=lore of flowers, we take from 
"Flowers and Flower Lore," Rev. Hilderic 
Friend (W. Swan, Sonnenschein & Com- 
pany), the following interesting extracts 
relative to the flowers mentioned in the 
lesson : 

(1) Pansy. — "Its name is from the 
French word pensees (thoughts), and in 
the floral language of France this favorite 
flower means ' think of me ' {pensez d men) . 



172 Teachers' Manual 



II 



We never catch Shakespeare napping ; here 
again he is on the watch and says : M j 



" ' And there is pansies— that's for thoughts. . 

"In Somersetshire pansies are called 
bird's-eyes; and a large yellow pansy, for 
example, will be pointed out by the ex 
pression 'Look at this yellow bird's=eye." 

(3) Buttercup. — This flower, among some 
country people, is called crazy, for it is 
thought to be an insane herb. 

""Throw those nasty flowers away,'" 
said a country woman to some children 
who had gathered a handful of buttercups, 
'"for the smell of them will make you 
mad'" (page 327). 

(3) Dandelion. — "The dandelion opens 
between six and seven o'clock, and pos- 
sesses a very peculiar means of sheltering 
itself from the heat of the sun, as it closes 
entirely whenever the warmth becomes ex- 
cessive. . . . The schoolboy often gathers 
the ripe stalk and blows at the crown which 
contains the seeds attached to a coronet of 
delicate hairs in order that he may learn 
the hour of the day : 

" ' Dandelion, with globe of down, 
The schoolboy's clock in every town. 
Which the truant puffs amain 
To conjure lost hours back again.' " 









Lesson XXXII 173 



If the down of the dandelion flies off in 
certain weather it is a sign of rain. 

(4) Daisy.— ''1 find the oxeye daisy 
called dnn=daisy in Somerset, and this is 
neither more nor less than an abbreviation 
of thnnder=daisy." 

Among the flowers which bear the stamp 
of daytime upon them the daisy may be 
mentioned. We quote : 

"How long the flower has been known 
as the day's=eye among us I am scarcely 
prepared to say. . . . 'It is the day's=eye, 
the bright little eye that opens only by 
day and goes to sleep at night.'" [See 
Chaucer.] 

" Men by reason well it calle may 
The Daisie or else the Eye of Day, 
The Empresse and the flowre of flowres all! " 

" The daisy comes into notice in the say- 
ing that it is not spring till you can put 
your foot upon twelve of these flowers." 

The daisy has always occupied a very 
high position among royalty. Margaret of 
Anjou chose the daisy as her own flower, 
and the nobles wore it in her honor. In 
England and France and Italy the flower 
was worn. 

(5) Tulip.— ''TldQ tulip, so much admired 



174 Teachers' Manual 

in Oriental lands on account of its splen- 
dor and variety, has from time immemorial 
been made the emblem by which a yonng 
Persian declares his love and affection. 
Chardin tells us that V7hen these young 
men in turbans and flowing robes present 
a tulip to a gentle maiden, it is their inten- 
tion to convey to her the idea that, like this 
flower, they have a countenance all on flre, 
and a heart reduced to a coal" (page 463). 

(6) Lily-of-the= Valley.— The lily=of4he- 
valley used in former times to be placed in 
churches in honor of the Virgin Mary ; not 
only the lily=of=the=valley, but also the lily 
was so used. 

' ' Gerarde sayeth that the ' flowers of the 
lily=of =the=valley being close stopped up in 
a glass, put into an ant=hill, and taken away 
again a month after, ye shall find a liquor 
in the glass, which being outwardly ap- 
plied helpeth the gout'" (page 371). 

The lily=of=the=valley represents happi 
ness and sweetness; the mention of it re- 
calls what the Master said: "Consider the 
lilies of the field how they grow ; they toil 
not, neither do they spin: and yet I say 
unto you that even Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these. " 



I 



Lesson XXXIII 175 



LESSON XXXIII 



Palissy : 

No account of the history of pottery 
wonld be complete without giving some 
details of the life of Bernard Palissy, who 
was born about 1510 in France. 

At an early age, according to Edward 
Everett Hale in his " Stories of Invention" 
(Little, Brown & Company), he worked 
not as a glazier, but at cutting up pieces 
of glass and coloring them for church win- 
dows. The following is a condensation : 

He came across a cup of enamel pottery, doubtless 
from Italy. " This cup," he says, '' was of such beauty 
that from the moment I saw it I entered into a dispute 
with myself as to how it could have been made." What 
puzzled Palissy was how the enamel was made by which 
the vessel was kept water-tight. " What others have 
found out," he said, "I might also discover; and if I 
could once make myself master of the art of glazing, I 
feel sure I could elevate pottery to a degree of perfection 
yet unknown. " So he started to work indefatigably and 
experimented with many substances, buying a furnace 
to bake his experiments. He went so far as to give up 
his work to devote himself to finding out the secret. 



176 Teachers' Manual 

Failure after failure did not discourage him, altho people 
looked upon Mm as crazy, since he was so persistent in 
his attempts to find out how enamel was made. At this 
time he received a government position which set his 
mind at rest, but he did not give up the original idea. 
There came a time which he had resolved should be 
the last, when he repaired to the glass»works accom- 
panied by a man loaded with more than three hundred 
different patterns on bits of pottery. For four hours 
Bernard gloomily watched the progress of baking; 
suddenly he started in surprise. Did his eyes deceive 
him? No, it was no illusion; he had found enamel. 
After this he worked persistently, making vases of dif- 
ferent shapes, then covering them with enamel, and de- 
spite the fact that his friends and trades^people deserted 
him, he proceeded day and night with his experiments; 
but he was to have his reward, for when the coarse vases 
were taken out of the oven they were found to be covered 
with a white smoothness. Throughout this stage it is 
the history of a man who was struggling and yet who was 
determined not to give up. For sixteen years he strove 
till he finally succeeded and became one of the famous 
men of his town. He died In the Bastile rather than 
abjure his religious faith, after having narrowly escaped 
being killed in the terrible massacre of St. Bartholomew. 

Modeling : From Milton Bradley's 
"Clay Modeling in the Schoolroom" we 
have condensed the following suggestions : 

"In all educational work, the principle of originality 
is the one which arouses interest, assists progress, and 
enriches humanity. ... To originate, develop, or ascer- 
tain something, before unknown and untold, is the per- 
fection of individual mental effort. . . . 



Lesson XXXIII 177 

"■ In joining parts of the object together, smooth gently 
with the tip of the finger. . . . Do not smooth too much, 
as pressure has a tendency to spoil the life-like curves 
and thus destroy the resemblance." 

There are seven series of objects in Mr. 
Bradley's conrse of modeling which it 
wonld be well for the teacher to talk about : 

Spl lere.— Sugar-bowl . 
Oblate Spheroid.— Turnip. 
Prolate Spheroid.— Soup»tureen. 
Ovoid.— Pear. 
Cone. — Funnel. 
Cylinder. — Pump. 
Cube.— House. 

It will be seen that, from the very first, 
form is associated with familiar objects, 
which should not be modeled until after 
the "normal" or geometrical type has been 
explained. In the Teachers' Manual for 
the First Reader, this method was sug- 
gested under the notes for the modeling 
lesson of the book. Similarity and contrast 
were brought out by means of conversa- 
tions held between the teacher and pupils. 
This power of getting a child interested in 
an object by questions that are vital to the 
lesson is very important. The art of ques- 
tioning is a great art, and, properly used, 
will elicit some answer from the pupil, 
12 



178 Teachers' Manual 

Story : An amusing story may be told 
to the children, concerning the manner in 
which Chinamen do what they are told to 
do ; the teacher may simplify the words if 
necessary ; 

A certain gentleman went to China, and there invested 
in a dozen plates of rare value. On his return to Amer- 
ica, one evening at a dinner party one of the beautiful 
plates dropped to the floor, and broke exactly in half. 
This, of course, spoiled the set, and so the gentleman 
had the plate glued together, leaving a streak down the 
center where the pieces joined. Thinking that it would 
be wise to order not only this extra plate from China, 
but also an extra half dozen in case of another acci- 
dent, the mended plate was forwarded to the company 
in China with an order to have seven plates made exactly 
like the sample. Months passed, and finally the gentle- 
man received a package from China, none other than the 
seven plates themselves. On opening the package, what 
was the gentleman's surprise to find the seven plates just 
as he had ordered, only down the center of each plate 
was to be found the crack, as shown in the original plate 
he had sent. 

There is an evident moral in a little tale 
of this kind. 

Pronunciation : The introduction of 
the diphthongal sound au is here given with 
careful directions as to the positions of the 
vocal organs. These directions have been 
carefully prepared, and should be used by 
the teacher. Take the several words given 



I 



Lesson XXXIV 179 

in the drill, and have them carefully and 
naturally sounded. This au sound is a 
broad one, and children unconsciously use 
it when they are hurt, in such words as 
"ouch" and "ow." The additional pro- 
nunciation drill consists of difficult words 
found in the text. Porcelain is the only 
word to which the teacher will have to pay 
special attention. 



LESSON XXXIY 



The L-esson : Wise is the man who 

knows that he knows little. This lesson 
is based on Odin and his search for wisdom, 
and in story form should be interpreted in 
its broadest sense. The children will look 
at it, not in its deep significance, but simply 
as a fairy=tale. 

In the story the teacher is to explain (a) 
The Norns who spin human destiny. The 
three kept watch over the waters of life, 
and could look into the past, the present, 
and the future. Their counterpart is to 



180 Teachers' Manual 



51 



be found in Grecian mythology under the 
name of the "Three Fates." (b) The 
Norsemen and their hardiness. Here the 
cruelty of the warriors .may be justly soft- 
ened in the teacher's description, for their 
cruelty was not so great according to their 
customs as it would seem according to 
modern standards. The Norsemen were 
bold, stern, daring, unyielding in war, but 
just when justice was needed, awake to 
those broad sweeps of passion that are only 
known to those who live a life of freedom. 
The teacher will find much material of 
value in the "Norse Stories" told by Ham- 
ilton W. Mabie (Dodd, Mead & Company) . 
In his introduction, speaking of these early 
Norsemen, Mr. Mabie writes : ' ' They loved 
danger, and their heroes were men who 
thought little of death. . . . They had in 
their souls a deep love of truth, and power, 
and action, the qualities which make men 
alive, keep them free, and give them au- 
thority ; . . . they thought of life as a tre- 
mendous fight, and they wanted to acquit 
themselves like men; bearing hardships 
without repining, doing hard work hon- 
estly, and with a whole heart, and dying 
with their faces toward their foes." 



Lesson XXXH^ 181 

At the end of this book under a note to 
the teacher, the following is suggested: 
"The children should be left to appropriate 
these myths through sheer joy of imagina- 
tion. Let them carve out Viking ships, 
hang a Ygdrasil, and then . . , build a 
house about a Branstock, map out for 
themselves Asgard, and Midgard, and Ut- 
gard; . . . let them act the Thor stories 
with the strut of giants and bang of ham- 
mer that their Norsemen instincts may 
crave (and the teacher's nerves can bear)." 
For the teacher's own preparation we refer 
her to Carlyle's essay, "The Hero as Di- 
vinity," in "Hero and Hero^Worship," in 
which Odin is taken as the type. Should 
she wish to continue further, Matthew 
Arnold's "Balder Dead" and William 
Morris' "Sigurd, the Volsung" will furnish 
much material on the subject. 

Related Subject§ : (a) "The Wise 
Men." 

The teacher may tell of the three wise 
men in story form, but it must be remem- 
bered that the subject of religion in educa- 
tion should be treated in a general way, 
since in all schools there are liable to be 
found children of many sects come together. 



182 Teachers' Manual 

In various forms the story has been told ; 
one by Dr. Henry Van Dyke, ' ' The Other 
"Wise Man," in which he contends that 
there were four wise men, and he tells why 
it is that the fourth wise man never reached 
the manger. 

The Seven Wise Men : In Brewer's 
"Reader's Handbook," the following verse 
signed "E. C. B." tells the tale: 

"First Solon, who made the Athenian laws; 
While Chilo, in Sparta, was famed for his saws; 
In Milgtos did Thales astronomy teach; 
Bias used in Priene his morals to preach; 
Cleobixlos, of Lindos, was handsome and wise; 
MitylSng 'gainst thraldom saw Pittacos rise; 
Periander is said to have gained, thro' his court, 
The title that Myson, the Chenian, ought." 

The Ooddess of Wisdom : Minerva 
was the Goddess of Wisdom springing com- 
pletely armed from the head of Jove. Her 
favorite bird was the owl. She presided 
over agriculture and navigation, likewise 
over spinning, weaving, and needlework. 
She was a warlike divinity also. [Consult 
Bulfinch's "Age of Fable."] 

For articles on the Norsemen and their 
Viking ships, consult "St. Nicholas " Maga- 
zine, Vol. XX, page 745, and Vol. XXV, 
page 864. 



Lesson XXXV 183 

Pronunciation l>rill: Altho no 
drills are indicated, it is not meant that 
phonetic drills should be omitted. The 
teacher should make selections of partic- 
ular vowel sounds for the children. Pho- 
netic exercises should be given every day. 



LESSON XXXY 



Tlie Picture : The colored picture ac- 
companying this lesson shows the birch= 
tree in winter stripped of its foliage ; but 
so that the picture may be useful for all 
seasons, the leaf and fruit of the birch=tree 
as they are in summer=time are shown in 
the picture at the bottom. In the woods 
or wherever it may be found, the birch^tree 
is often distinguishable by the thin plates 
like paper, which are so easily stripped off. 
From Harriet Keeler's "Our Native 
Trees" (Charles Scribner's Sons) the fol- 
lowing material is taken. The teacher is 
likewise referred to F, Schuyler Mathew's 
book "Familiar Trees and Their Leaves" 
(D. Appleton & Company). 



184 Teachers' Manual 

The Bircli=Tree : In North America 
there are nine trees of the birch family. 
All of the trees are of singular grace and 
beanty. The roots are fibrous, and the 
trees can be readily transplanted ; all grow 
rapidly. The bark of the birch is practi- 
cally imperishable because of the resinous 
oil it contains (Keeler, page 295) . Its de- 
cided color gives the common names red, 
white, black, and yellow to the different 
kinds of birch. The wood is close=grained 
with a satiny texture and capable of taking 
a fine polish. The leaves of the different 
species vary but little. 



Name.— Birch. Betula papyrifera. 

Family.— Birch.* 

Species.— Paper. 

Height— 60 to 70 feet. 

Distribution.— Northern range. 

Bark. — Light brown. 

Color of wood. — Light brown tinged with red. 



* Miss Keeler places the paper birch in the birch fam- 
ily ; most botanists characterize it as belonging to the 
oak family; the former is a popular rather than a scien- 
tific classification, and, for children, is clearer, since to 
say the birch belongs to the oak family would lead to con- 
fusion. The teacher must remember that the "• science" 
will come later, after the children have grasped the gen- 
eral charactenstics ; we have thought it beet to quote 
from sources that are not too technical. 



Lesson XXXV 185 

Description of wood.— Light, hard, tough, close- 
grained, and strong. 
Use of wood.— Spools, shoe=>lasts, wood-pulp, fuel. 
Leaf. — 2 to 3 inches long, about 2 inches broad. 
Color of leaf.— Dull, dark green. 
Color in autumn. — Pale yellow. 
Time of flowering.— April. 
Fruit.— Nut [ament] oval. 

Order of Study : The following order 
should be used in discussing the parts of 
flowers and trees : 

1. Root. — Branching or single. 2. Trunk. 
— Bark and diameter. 3. Branches. 4. 
Leaves. 5. "Wood. 6. Commercial value 
of wood. 7. Color of leaves. 8. Flowers 
9. Fruit. [Vid. "Object Lessons in Ele- 
mentary Science," Macmillan & Company, 
page 68.] Impress upon the children the 
importance of planting trees. Ravages 
have been made in certain forest localities 
to satisfy the demand for timber. But 
tract upon tract is covered with young 
forests that are being rapidly set out by 
those who look into the future with a 
view to the consumer's demands. Not 
long ago one college alone planted over one 
million young trees. Years in the life of 
a nation are as naught in the making of 
epochs, and when the time comes for the 



II 



186 Teachers' Manual 

need of these trees, they will be ready. 
The forest primeval, however, is a thing of 
the past. As for the part the children 
might take in the preservation of the Amer- 
ican forests, the rapidly growing popular- 
ity of Arbor day among the different 
states has done much to foster the proper 
feeling. Where it is found practicable, at 
a certain time in the spring, the teacher 
may have exercises around a sapling that 
may be planted near a schoolhouse or in 
the park, if the authorities permit. Much 
sentiment is manifested among our col- 
leges in the planting of trees by the out- 
going class at "Class Day." 

Text : The text of the lesson contains a 
quotation from Longfellow's "Hiawatha"; 
elsewhere are found in the Second Reader 
two lessons based upon the same Indian 
legend. [Vid. Reader, pages 107, 109.] The 
teacher will find it advisable to correlate A j 
wherever it is possible to do so. Connect ■ 
this lesson with that of Longfellow's 
"Hiawatha." This story has been set to 
music by Mr. Frederick Burton. Indian 
music is full of weirdness, and there is one 
particular song called "My Bark Canoe" 
which would please the children should 



Lesson XXXV 187 

the teacher play it on the piano. It is sim- 
ple in melody, and, as Mr. Burton has ex- 
plained, the thought is simple, because an 
Indian in his poetry deals only with one 
thought that is devoid of all ornamentation. 

Pronunciation Drill : The different 
vowel and consonant sounds should be 
drilled upon according to directions that 
indicate the proper positions of the organs 
of speech ; and any defects detected in the 
pronunciation of these words by the pupils 
should be conscientiously overcome. In 
words of more than one syllable, care 
should be taken that the accent is placed 
in its proper position and that every com- 
ponent part of the word is given its full 
value. The phonetic exercises consist of 
the diphthongal sounds oi and au. 

To the Teacher : 

1. There is a sacredness in the calling of a teacher. 
The child she addresses is not a creature of yesterday, but 
has come up through ages of unfolding. She may meet 
him on the stairway; whether he is going up or down, 
her influence is to be exerted in determining his direction. 

2. The public school is a fulcrum upon wliich the 
country may be lifted. 

3. The teacher's power consists very much in her 
ability to create pictures in the minds of chUdren. 
Word=painting is far more effective than painting upon 
canvas or the art of the sculptor. 



188 Teachers Manual 



LESSON XXXYI 



I 



Literary Cat§ : Looking under the 
word cat in the cumulative index of "St. 
Nicholas " Magazine, we find two columns 
of titles, and from these we suggest the 
following material : 

An article by Helen M. Winslow treats of 

"Some Literary Cats" (Vol. XXVII, pages 

923-926, August, 1900), in which the pets 

belonging to Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary E. 

Wilkins, Louise Chandler Moulton, and 

Edmund Clarence Stedman are described. 

Miss Jewett speaking of Polly, one of her 

cats, writes: 

" Polly was a small cat to have so great a mind. Slie 
looked quite round and kittenish as she sat before the 
fire in a rare moment of leisure; but when she walked 
abroad, she stretched out long and thin, and held her 
head high over the grass as if she were treading a jungle. 
If she lashed her tail one turned out of her way instantly. 
If she crossed the room and gave you a look, you rose 
and opened the door for her. She made you know 
what she wanted as if she had the gift of speech. . . . 
You recognized her right to appear at night on your bed 
with one of her long»suffering kittens which she had 



Lesso7i XXXVI 189 

brought in out of the rain, out of a cellar window and up 
a lofty ladder, across a wet steep roof, down through a 
scuttle, into the garret and still down into warm shelter." 

Among the many artists who have paint- 
ed pictures of cats none is better known 
than J. J. Dolph, of whom W. Lonis Frazer 
writes in "St. Nicholas" Magazine (Octo- 
ber, 1891, Vol. XVIII, page 891). The very 
young kittens in Mr. Dolph's possession 
were fed by him in a pecnliar way. Milk 
was placed by him on the end of a paint= 
brush and held to the kitten's mouth. Out 
would come the little pink tongue and lick 
it off as fast as it was supplied. Mr. Dolph 
said : 

"As the kittens grow up they often show strange fan- 
cies and whims. ... I will show you a sketch of a kit- 
ten who would sleep nowhere but on the top of my cabi- 
net, and every night I had to take down my old Venetian 
glass and other curiosities to make a place for pussy. I 
had another whose marks and whose color were very 
beautiful. . . . Well, she got into the habit of taking a 
place on my knee at meal»times, and after a while would 
only feed from my fingers or eat bits put on the table es- 
pecially for her. . . . 

" A cat never forgives an injury as a dog will, and her 
pride once wounded she never forgives you. I tell you 
this because the animal'trainers use the whip a great deal ; 
but, you see, you can not whip a cat. I found out that this 
one disliked to have her nose touched, and was fond of 
sugar. So when she did what I wished I gave her sugar, 



190 Teachers^ Manual 

and when she waB obstinate I touclaed her nose gently 
with the tip of my finger. Then she would make a wry 
face and do as I told her, or else run under the chest." 

In the opening chapter of "Our Cats and 
All About Them," by Harrison Weir, F.R. 
H.S., president of the National Cat Club 
(Houghton, Mififlin & Company, 1889), the 
author discusses the good of cat shows, re- 
sulting in kindness to animals and in the 
appreciation of their good points. He 
writes in various chapters as follows : 

" Cats may roughly be divided into two classes: long-- 
haired cats, of which the Russian, the Angora, the Per- 
sian, and Indian varieties are specimens; and the short* 
haired cats. . . . 

"It is mostly found that a white cat, not only of the 
long, but of the short breed nearly always is deaf. Blue= 
eyed cats are nearly always deaf, altho there are excep- 
tions to the rule. . . . 

" The Angora cat comes from Angora in western Asia. 
The Angora cat has a small head, with not too long a 
nose, large, full eyes of a color in harmony with his fur, 
ears rather large than small and pointed with tuft of hair 
at the apex, ... a very full flowing mane about the head 
and neck. . . . The colors are varied; but the black 
(which should have orange eyes, as should also the slate* 
colored) and the blues and the white are the most 
esteemed. ... In manners and temper they are quiet, 
social, and docile. 

" Persian cats differ from the Angora in that the tail is 
generally longer, like a table^brush, the hair being full 
and coarse. The head is larger; ears less pointed; the 



Lesso7i XXXVI 191 

eyes large, full, and round witli a mild expression; the 
legs, feet, and toes well curved, with long hair; longer 
in body than the Angora. The colors vary from the black 
(which is diflScult to obtain) with orange»colored eyes to 
light slate or blue, lilac, and purplish hues. This variety 
is less reliable as far as temper is concerned than the 
Angora. It has been known to bite and snap like a dog, 
and is much given to roaming. These cats attach them- 
selves to places more than to persons, and are indifferent 
to those who feed and have the care of them. 

" Among the other cats that may be mentioned are the 
tortoise=8hell, tortoise'shell^and-^white cats, brown tabby= 
cat, spotted tabbies, tabby=cat of Abyssinia, the short* 
haired white cat, the black cat, the blue cat, the black- 
and-white cat, the white*and=black cat, the Siamese 
cat, the Manx cat. 

" At the office of the ' London Advertiser ' they boast 
of a race of cats bred there for more than half a century. 
In Vienna four cats are employed by the town magis- 
trates to catch mice on the premises of the municipality. 
A regular allowance is voted for their keep, and, after a 
limited period of active service, they are placed on the 
retired list with a comfortable pension. 

" There are also a number of cats in the service of the 
United States Post= Office. These cats are distributed 
among the different offices to prevent the bags from be- 
ing eaten by rats and mice, and the cost of providing for 
them is duly entered in the accounts. When a birth 
takes place, the local postmaster informs the superin- 
tendent of the facts, and obtains an addition to his 
rations." 

From the New York "Sun " the following 
paragraph reprinted in "St. Nicholas " Mag- 
azine for March, 1894, will be of interest : 



192 Teachers' Manual 

" Some three hundred and odd cats are maintained by 
the United States government, the cost of their support 
being carried on as a regular item on the accounts of the 
post»office department. These cats are distributed 
among about fifty post=offices, and their duty is to keep 
rats and mice from eating and destroying canvas mail* 
saclis. Their work is of the utmost importance wherever 
large quantities of mail are collected, as for example at 
the New York Post^Office, where from two hundred to 
three hundred bags of mail matter are commonly stored 
in the basement. . . . Each of the postmasters in the 
larger cities is allowed from $8 to $40 a year for the keep 
of his feline staff, sending his estimate for ' cat=meat ' to 
Washington at the beginning of each quarter." 

The L-es§oii : The illustration deals 
with the cats mentioned in the text, and 
should be supplemented by descriptions by 
the teacher. The text should form the 
basis for questions such as : 

(1) Have you ever seen an Angora cat? 

(2) What is the difference between the 
tabby and the Angora as shown in the pic- 
ture? 

Small sentences should be placed upon 
the blackboard and put in phonetic form 
after the difficult sounds have been care- 
fully drilled upon. Words other than those 
given in the pronunciation drill should 
form the basis of careful study. If the 
lesson can not be finished in one day, more 



Lesson XXXVI 193 

time should be devoted to it, bnt it would 
be well so to map out the course that the 
Reader may be finished in one year's time 

To the Teacher : 

(1) The child's attention is something that should 
never be overstrained. Where the attention has been 
centered upon a particular object for some time, the 
teacher should change to something of a different char- 
acter. This change is as full of good results as inter- 
mission of work would be. 

(2) Do not feel that you have done with your pupils 
when you dismiss your school. Follow them with loving 
heart, and devote considerable time and thought each 
day to the carrying out of whatever course of study you 
have mapped out for them. 

(3) Cultivate the pet idea for animals, and kindness 
toward all living creatm-es. 

(4) Do not allow it to be said that children seem to go 
to school to train their memories and learn not to think. 

(5) The child is a sponge that absorbs whatever comes 
in its way. Be sure that what he absorbs is go.od. 



13 



194 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON XXXYII 



Weaving : From Kate Douglas Wig- 
gin's book entitled "Froebel's Occupa- 
tions " the following suggestions in regard 
to weaving may be of use to the teacher. 
We quote from a note on page 166 : 

"The art of platting, which carries in it the germ of 
the art of weaving, is of immemorable, imdiscoverable 
antiquity. There can hardly have been a time when 
man did not weave together twigs or reeds to form a 
rude tent= covering— a primitive house" (Carey's "The 
Dawn of History"). 

Mrs. Wiggin writes : 

"The simplest form of weaving is that employed in 
making the mats of uncivilized races. These are woven 
in the same way as the first mats in the kindergarten, 
using in place of paper the fibers of vegetable growths — 
the ends of these fibers being fastened to a stick to keep 
them in place. How the early savage races originated 
the art of weaving can not now be known, but it may 
have been from studying or imitating the habits of cer- 
tain birds. Among the most noticeable of these are the 
weaver^birds of Africa, the name having reference to 
the remarkable way in which their hanging nests are 
constructed; these are woven in a very wonderful man- 



Lesson XXXVII 195 

ner of various vegetable substances, and are objects of 
great interest. One of the birds stays inside, the other 
outside, and the outside bird pushes a strip of grass 
through the strands, the bird within pushing it back in 
another place; and so they weave the strip out and in 
till the babies' cradle is finished." 

Mrs. Wiggin emphasizes the fact that 
the reason weaving is so valuable an ad- 
junct in teaching is because of the f oUpw- 
ing points : 

(1) Develops ambidexterity. (3) Culti- 
vates patience and perseverance, thus hav- 
ing high moral value. (3) Teaches form. 
(4) Develops the creative faculty. (5) Cul- 
tivates color^aste. 

If it is possible, take the children to a 
place V7"here a spider is working and show 
the regular way in which the strands are 
spread from place to place. Mrs. Wiggin 
suggests that in every schoolroom one or 
more birds' nests be placed; it should be 
emphasized, however, that the wilful de- 
struction of birds' nests is wrong. If a 
museum is near, let the children examine 
carefully the different nests there. 

Stories : In connection with the story 
of weaving, the teacher will find elsewhere 
in this book the tale of " Arachne and the 
Spider." In simple language let her tell 



196 Teachers' Manual 

the story of "Robert Bruce and the Spider," 
here given in condensation. [See "Fifty 
Famous Stories Retold," by James Bald- 
win (American Book Company).] 

When Kobert Bruce was King of Scotland, the King of 
England fought against him. Bruce showed his hravery 
in withstanding the King''s onslaught. One day Bruce 
lay under a shed, tired and sick, and had almost lost 
hope'of bringing peace to his land. And while he was 
thinking, the rain poured steadily down, and he saw a 
spider about to weave a web. He watched her as she 
tried to throw her fii-st thread from one beam to another. 
Six times she tried and still she did not lose hope. 
Bruce became very much interested and began to ask 
himself whether she would give up ; but no ! the seventh 
time the strand was placed. This taught Bruce a lesson. 
Up he sprang, and gathering his men about him he 
fought bravely. And, so the legend runs, from that day 
no one could persuade any member of the Bruce family 
to hurt a spider. 

The teacher will find many stories rela- 
ting to the three Fates. This Grecian 
mythology is balanced in the North by the 
Norwegian or Scandinavian Noms, who 
were the northern Fates. 

To the Teacher : It is well to show 
the child, either by illustration or by ob- 
servation, the way in which weaving is 
done. If there is a factory within easy 
reach, take the children to see how the 



Lesson XXXVII 197 

work is done ; explain what part weaving 
has played in the history of the different 
countries ; how it is always one of the first 
industries a primitive race follows. Under 
a very strong magnifying^glass the weav- 
ing on an ordinary handkerchief may be 
very easily shown. If possible, obtain a 
microscope; placing a bit of linen or cot- 
ton under the lens, the strands will be seen 
in their true relations one to the other. 

Phonetic Drill : In addition to the 
regular pronunciation drill, a review of the 
two diphthongal sounds ai and an is given. 
Literature : "Handloom Weaving" is 
a manual by Mattie Phipp Todd (Rand, 
McNally & Company). It contains chap- 
ters on the primitive loom and the first 
steps in weaving; toward the end of the 
book will be found suggestions for songs, 
games, and stories, and also a bibliography. 
Recite the following stanza to the chil- 
dren: 

"Over one, under one, 

Over one again, 
Under one, over one. 

Then we do the same. 
Hi weavers ! Ho weavers ! 

Come and weave with me 1 
You'll rarely find, go where you will, 
A happier band than we." 



198 Teachers* Manual 



LESSON XXXYIII 



Bible Paraphrase : See note for 
Lesson LXXXVI, page 174 of the Reader. 



LESSON XXXIX 



The owl. the swallow, the martin, and 
the woodpecker have been selected for this 
lesson, not because they all resemble each 
other or because their families are all 
closely related — they are not — but because 
they are useful to man, useftil in an agri- 
cultural or economic sense. But as it is 
the aim to have each lesson in this book 
stand simply as suggestive to the teacher 
for further work in the same line, variety 
of treatment is given. Remember that 
with the teacher and not entirely with the 
text=book lies the responsibility of fur- 
ther stimulating the interest of a child. 



Lesson XXXIX 199 

Seek to grasp the unity of the lesson ; re- 
member that the basis of this lesson is 
nsefnlness, usefulness in destroj^g some- 
thing that is harmful to the welfare of 
man. Birds have been ruthlessly killed 
because of the mistaken belief that they 
do harm, where a little careful examina- 
tion on our part would prove that the 
harm done is quite surpassed by the good. 
"Weigh before you judge" should be im- 
pressed upon the pupils, and they should 
be encouraged in the desire to be kind and 
helpful to their bird neighbors. 

Prepare an outline of the chief facts 
about the birds of the lesson. If the live 
bird can not be shown (outdoor work is 
strongly advised), or if the school is not in 
close proximity to a museum, the different 
points in the picture should be carefully 
noted and discussed in the class. Consult 
the bird bibliography given elsewhere in 
this Manual. Glance at the indexes and 
read about the birds that are being studied. 
After the six bird lessons have been com- 
pleted, it might be well to transpose the 
treatments. Remember that one lesson, 
so called, may, in the hands of a conscien- 
tious and enthusiastic teacher, be the basis 



200 Teachers Manual 

for six or more lessons. A book can do no 
more than act as an incentive. Should it 
attempt more, it would overstep its bounds 
and encroach upon the field of a bird=book. 

IVoodpecker (Downy) : 

Family.— Woodpecker. Dryobates jmbescens. 

Range.— Eastern North America, Labrador to Florida. 

Migration. — Resident. 

Size. — 6-7 inches; about the size of the English 
sparrow. 

Food. — Animal 75 %, vegetable 25 %; caterpillars, bee- 
tles, bugs, grasshoppers, ants, spiders, moths, Virginia 
creeper, dogwood, strawberries. 

Nest. — In decayed trees, apple-trees especially. 

'Eggs.— Nnmbe7\- 4 to 6. Color: White. 

The material for the foregoing table as 
well as for those that follow is taken from 
"Bird Neighbors." 

Impress upon the pupils that there are 
many woodpeckers besides the downy pic- 
tured in the cut; for example, the red= 
headed woodpecker, the hairy woodpecker, 
and the flicker. 

Much literature has been written about 
these birds, so much that we have to limit 
ourselves to one, the one which is most use- 
ful (as opposed, so the teacher may empha- 
size, to the most harmful, the sapsucker) 
to man. 



Lesson XXXIX 301 

John Burroughs has written charmingly 
of woodpeckers in his "Winter Neigh- 
bors " ; not about downy alone, but of the 
family in general. He tells how the wood- 
pecker, in picking otit his retreat in a tree, 
prefers the dry, brittle trunk; how, when 
he looks for food or is drumming for 
grubs, his drum is muffled. He tells how 
smart the sapsucker can be to know the 
days when the sap of a tree is at its best. 
All these points and more the teacher will 
find suggestive for classroom talks. 

"The Woodpeckers," by Fanny Hardy 
Eckstorm (Houghton, Mifflin & Company), 
gives detailed descriptions. From it we 
quote the following points : 

" Look for the woodpeckers in orchards and along the 
edges of the thickets, . . . wherever there are boring 
larvae, beetles, ants, grasshoppers. . . . Sometimes on 
the fair bark of a smooth limb the woodpecker stops, 
listens, taps, and begins to drill [for a borer] . He works 
with haste and energy, laying open a deep hole. . . . 
The first step in building [a home] is to strike out a circle 
in the bark as large as the doorway is to be. ... It is 
nearly always a perfect circle. ... If the size and shape 
of the doorway suit him, the woodpecker scales ojff the 
bark inside his circle of holes and begins his hard 
work. ... A week or more is consumed in digging the 
nest, which, among the flickers, is commonly from 10 to 
18 inches deep. The bole usually runs in horizontally 



202 Teachers' Manual 

for a few inches and then curves down, ending in a 
ctiamber large enough to make a comfortable nest for 
the mother and her babies. ..." 

Miss Eckstorm, in writing of the downy 
woodpecker, describes him as small, socia- 
ble, ' ' and a little spotted black=and= white 
fellow," and a most industrious bird. She 
calls him "the inspector of apple4rees." 

" Summer and winter he works on our orchards. At 
sunrise he begins, and he patrols the branches till sun- 
set. He taps on the trunks to see whether he can hear 
any rascally borers inside. He inspects every tree care- 
fully in a thorough and systematic way, beginning low 
down and following up with a peek into every crevice, 
and a tap upon every spot that looks suspicious. If he 
sees anything which ought not to be there, he removes it 
at once. ... A beetle had just deposited her eggs here. 
Downy saw her and took not only the eggs but the beetle 
herself. . . . All the evidence he asks against any insect 
is to find him loafing about the premises. ' I swallow 
him first, and find out afterwards whether he is guilty,' 
says downy. ..." 

The sapsucker, which is the injurious 
bird of the family, is harmful to trees be- 
cause he drills lines of holes around the 
trunk in rings or belts, some bands con- 
taining at least 800 holes, thus stopping 
the circulation of the sap and eventually 
killing the tree itself. 

These are only a few points of interest 



Lesson XXXIX 203 

concerning the woodpeckers. Talk about 
the bill of the downy woodpecker, which 
does the work of a pickax; his claw; his 
tail, showing that it is used to lean upon ; 
his tongue, which darts forth and spears 
the object of his search. Consult Neltje 
Blanchan's "Bird Neighbors" (Doubleday 
& McClure Company), and also "Bird 
Homes," by A. R. Dugmore (Doubleday & 
McClure Company), for material. 

Barii^Swallow : 

Family.— Swallow. Chelidon erythrogaster. 

Kange.— Throughout North America; winters in the 
tropics of both Americas. 

Migration. — Arrival: About April 15. Summer resi- 
dent. Departure: September. 

Size. — 6.5-7 inches; trifle longer than English sparrow. 

Nest. — Location: Eafters or smaller supports inside 
or outside of barn. Material: Pellets of mud, straw, 
lining of hay and feathers. 

Eggs.— iV"r<m6er .• 4 to 6. Color: White with spots, 
dots, and blotches of reddish brown and purplish. 

There are many birds belonging to this 
family, such as the barn=swallow, bank= 
swallow, cliff =swallow, tree=swallow, bough= 
winged swallow, and purple martin. These 
birds take their insect food on the wing 
[see "Bird Neighbors," page 9] ; sexes are 
similar in color and form ; bills are small ; 



204 Teachers' Manual 



3\ 



mouths are large ; long, pointed wings ; tail 
more or less forked ; plumage dull. 

Purple martin : 

Family. — Swallow. Progne subis. 

Range. — Peculiar to America; from arctic circle to 
South America. 

Migration.— Arrival : About April 25. Departure: 
September. 

Size.— 7-8 inches; 2 or 3 inches smaller than the robin. 

Food. — Wasps, beetles, and all kinds of injurious 
insects. 

'Nest.— Location : Bird=boxes or buildings. Material: 
Any convenient thing. 

Bggs.—J^umber : 4 to 5. Color : White. 

Screecli=Ow^l : 

Of the many owls, such as the Arcadian 
owl, the barn-owl, the barred owl, the bur 
rowing owl, cat=owl, great gray owl, great 
horned owl, the hawk=owl, hoot=owl, the 
long=eared owl, the marsh^owl, the meadow= 
owl, the red owl, the screech=owl, the snowy 
owl, etc., the screech=owl has been taken 
because of his service to man. [Vid. ' ' Birds 
That Hunt and Are Hunted," by Neltje 
Blanchan (Doubleday & McClure Company) 
for the following.] 

Family.— Owl. Megascops asio. 
Eange.— Eastern North America. 
Migration.— Resident. 



Lesson XXXIX 205 

Size.— 8.50-9.50 inches. 

Food. — Caterpillars, grasshoppers, small noxious mam- 
mals, English sparrows, worms, spiders, lizards, scor- 
pions, fish. 

'^est.— Location : Hollow tree. MatencU: Feathers, 
chips, rotten wood. 

'Eggs.— Mtmbe?' : 4 to 6, sometimes 8. Color: White. 

Male and female : In the brownish=red 
phase, having upper=parts rusty red, finely 
streaked with blackish brown, and under= 
parts whitish, streaked with black, eyes 
yellow, legs and feet covered with short 
feathers, prominent ear=tufts. In the gray 
phase, the upper=parts ashen gray, streaked 
with black. 

The screech=owl, writes Neltje Blanchan, 

"... has a weird, melancholy, whistling ti'emolo. . . . 
It keeps closely concealed by day, often in a dense 
evergreen, or in its favorite hollow. ... In the southern 
and central portions of its range, nesting begins in March; 
in the New England and northern parts some time 
between the middle of April and the first of May." 

Mircis' £ggs and Birds' IVests : 

This is an interesting subject for the 
teacher to discuss. Emphasis should be laid 
upon the importance of caring for birds' 
nests and protecting them against thought- 
less destruction. Consult such books as 
"Bird Homes" (Doubleday & McClure 



306 Teachers' Manual 

Company), by A. R. Dugmore, for a general 
description of nests and eggs ; if possible, 
show actual examples or pictures of the 
eggs and nests ; emphasize the manner in 
which the nest is built and fastened, of 
what it is made, etc. 

The Usefulness of Birds to man: 

In an interesting lecture on the value of 
birds to the commonwealth, delivered by 
Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York, 
Mr, Chapman emphasizes the service ren- 
dered by birds to the agriculturist and the 
little reward they get for their work. He 
quotes Professor Forbes, Director of the 
Illinois State Laboratory of Natural His- 
tory, who writes : 

"It is my opinion that about two-thirds of the food of 
birds consists of insects, and that this insect food will 
average, at the lowest reasonable estimate, twenty in- 
sects or insects' eggs per day for each individual of the 
two^thirds, giving a total for the year of 7,200 per acre, 
or about 250 billions for the state." ^ 

The value of birds in destroying insects 
Mr. Chapman fully emphasizes in this 
little pamphlet. It may be procured from 
the Department of Agriculture at Wash- 
ington and is well worth reading. From 



Lesson XXXIX 207 

it the following is taken about the birds of 
this lesson: 

" Farmers are prone to look upon woodpeckers with 
suspicion. . . . Careful observers, howeyer, have noticed 
that excepting a single species these birds rarely leave 
any important mark on a healthy tree; but that when a 
Iree is affected by wood= boring larvae, the insects are 
accurately located, dislodged, and devoured. . . . An 
examination of many stomachs of these two birds [the 
hairy woodpecker and the downy woodpecker] shows 
that from two=thirds to three=f ourths of the food consists 
of insects, chiefly noxious. "Wood«boring beetles, both 
adults and larvae, are conspicuous. . . . Next in impor- 
tance are the ants that live in decaying wood, all of 
which are sought by woodpeckers and eaten in great 
quantities. ... It is thus evident that woodpeckers are 
great conservators of forests. . . . 

"The vegetable food of woodpeckers is varied, but 
consists largely of small fruits and berries. The downy 
and hairy woodpeckers eat such fruits as dogwood, 
Yirginia creeper, and others, with the seeds of poison- 
ivy, sumach, and a few other shrubs." [This matter is 
quoted from Professor Beal's report.] 

It is because the owl is so misunderstood 
that in many places large sums are paid 
yearly for his destruction. The owl, Mr. 
Chapman states, swallows his food entire, 
and it has been found by Dr. A. K. Fisher 
(see pages 29, 30, and 31 of this pamphlet) 
that the barn-owl (the monkey=faced owl) 
makes it a part of his special business to 



308 Teachers Manual ■ 

kill liouse=inice as well as the mice which 
come to destroy the grain in the store- 
house. 

Florence A. Merriam, in her "Birds of 
Village and Field" (Houghton, Mifflin & 
Company, 1898), says that Prof. F. E. S. 
Beal has calculated that the tree=sparrow 
alone destroys in Iowa 1,720,000 pounds of 
noxious weed=seeds every year ; swallows, 
especially the bam=swallow, live largely 
upon flies which torment stock, while the 
martin is particularly noted for his unceas- 
ing and bitter warfare carried on against 
sparrows. 

It is strongly advised that the following 
points be emphasized in the study of birds : 

(a) Common names. 

r Color. 

(b) Description: J ^^^^^ 

i.Tail. 

(c) Habits. 

(d) Nest. 

(e) Eggs. 
(/) Song. 

(g) Position in bird«world. 

(A) Important characteristics. 

(i) Stories about birds. 

(J) Poems about birds. 

(k) Talks with pupils about birds, by queBtions. 



Lesson XXXIX 209 

Literature : Short poems on the differ- 
ent birds should be read, and, if simple 
enough, memorized. Tennyson has written 
a poem entitled "The Owl,' one verse of 
which is as follows : 

" When cats run home and light is come, 
And dew is cold upon the ground, 
And the far=off stream is dumb, 
And the whirring sail goes round, 
And the whirring sail goes round; 
Alone and warming his five wits, 
The white owl in the helfry sits." 

This bird, being a symbol of wisdom, is 
used as the favorite of Minerva, who is the 
G-reek goddess of wisdom. Obtain, if possi- 
ble, the "Bird=Lore Chart," showing sixty= 
two representative members of the eighteen 
families of perching birds of northeastern 
America, with the statements of their 
range, number, and structural character- 
istics ; photographed one=third the natural 
size from specimens in the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History ; the chart is pre- 
pared by Mr. Frank M. Chapman, and the 
price is 25 cents post=paid. 

Pronunciation Drill : Remember 
that there are many ways of using these 
pronunciation drills: (1) by sounding the 

14 



^10 Teachers^ Manual 

vowel; (2) by sounding the consonant; 
(3) by grouping all of those words con- 
taining the same sound under the same 
heading ; (4) diphthongal sounds ; (5) pho- 
netic sentences to be read from phonetic 
spelling ; (6) short sentences to be placed 
upon the board in phonetic spelling ; (7) the 
card game of phonetics. 

To the Teacher: Mr. Chapman, in 
his "Bird Life " (D. Appleton & Company), 
has an appendix for the use of the teacher. 
From this many valuable suggestions may 
be gained. He says: "As we become fa- 
miliar with birds and learn to recognize 
them, the question of identity will no 
longer remain a bar to our better acquaint- 
ance, and our interest in them will deepen. 
We shall begin to inquire into the ques- 
tions of form and habit, color, migration, 
song, nesting, etc. ..." 



Lesson XL 211 



LESSON XL 



The L*essoii : This lesson deals with 
expansion and material for the purpose of 
classroom experiments, and apparatus is 
suggested in the illustration accompanying 
the lesson itself. Because a gas=flame or 
an oil^flame must, of necessity, be used, 
the teacher will have to be careful to im- 
press the children with the fact that while 
around the gas=flame they must be as quiet 
as possible, since the jarring of the table 
or of the Bunsen burner might upset the 
flame, and a fire be the result. Apart from 
the iron ring and the iron ball attached to 
a chain, there is nothing more to be pro- 
cured for the experiment than the Bunsen 
burner itse'lf . These lessons dealing with 
the simple facts in science should be given 
even at such an early age as eight to ten. 
To see an iron ball grow larger after being 
heated is something that will interest the 
children even tho the principle underlying 
the experiment may not be easily grasped 
at the moment. 



312 Teachers' Manual 

FromGanot's "Physics" (William Wood 
& Company) the following suggestions are 
taken : 

" Nearly all bodies expand by the expansion of heat. 
As a general rule, gases are the most expansible, then 
liquids, and lastly solids. . . . 

"In order to show the expansion of liquids, a large 
glass bulb provided with a capillary stem is used. If 
the bulb and a part of the stem contain some colored 
liquid, the liquid rapidly rises in the stem when the heat 
is applied. . . " (page 287). 

From the expansion of liquids the teacher 
may pass to the explanation of the ther- 
mometer, showing one. Place, as was sug- 
gested in the Manual for the First Reader, 
two glasses, one with cold water and the 
other with lukewarm water, on the table ; 
put the thermometer in the first glass and 
let the children notice how the mercury 
falls; immediately after placing it in the 
glass of cold water, place it in the glass of 
lukewarm water, and show the children 
how the mercury rises. 

Take a thermometer, and hold the mer- 
cury=bulb in the hand, so as to cut it off 
from the temperature of the air; the pu- 
pils will see the mercury rise. The teacher 
may explain that the rise in temperature 
is due to the heat of the body. With peo- 



Lesson XL 213 

pie in normal health this temperature is 
constant, being ninety =eight and a half de- 
grees Fahrenheit ; when above ninety=eight 
and a half degrees the person is said to be 
feverish. 

To the Teacher: David Salmon, in 
his " Art of Teaching " (Longmans, Green 
& Company), has the following to say con- 
cerning science: 

" Every physical science begins with, the careful and 
intelligent observation of facts, and then proceeds to 
classify and generalize; hence the pursuit of it gives a 
keenness to the senses and a vigor to the reasoning 
powers which must be of immense service in any depart- 
ment of human activity." 

Huxley writes in his "Science and Edu- 
cation " : 

"I advocate natural^history knowledge . . . because 
it would lead us to seek the beauties of natural objects 
instead of trusting to chance to force them on our atten- 
tion. To a person uninstructed in natural history, his 
country or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery 
filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which 
have their faces turned to the wall. Teach him some- 
thing of natural history, and you place in his hands a 
catalogue of those which are worth turning round." 

Pronunciatioii Drill : The phonetic 
drill given in this lesson deals first with the 
ei sound, directions being given for the 



214 Teachers' Manual 

proper positions of the organs of speech. 
The teacher shonld from time to time se- 
lect the difficult words of the text, and 
place them upon the blackboard with their 
phonetic spellings, so that they may be 
properly pronounced. Under the heading 
"Reading," in the "Art of Teaching" 
above mentioned, many suggestions are 
given as to the alphabet, word=building, 
enunciation and pronunciation, with les- 
sons on the vowel and consonant sounds. In 
regard to the latter some instructive sen- 
tences containing two similar consonant 
sounds, coming together, and to be pro- 
nounced separately, are quoted. For ex- 
ample : 

Bo6 6urned his fingers. 
She gave us a good (pinner. 
The xooff&W with a crash. 
JacA; caught two birds. 

This suggestion is very valuable if prop- 
erly used. 



Lessons XLI, XLVIII, XLIX 215 



LESSONS XLI, XLYIII, 
XLIX 



The Lessons: The first lesson deals 
with what the Indian boy and girl do dur- 
ing the day. The second and third lessons 
are based on legends in Longfellow's 
"Hiawatha." Ask questions concerning 
the details ; for example : ' ' Who was Mon- 
damin? " The answer should be that he is 
the symbol of antnmn and the resurrec- 
tion, showing that Mondamin dies only 
to rise again each September. For Indian 
life it would be well to consult "Little 
Folk of Many Lands," by Louise Jordan 
Miln (Charles Scribner's Sons), upon which 
Lesson XLI is based. The poetry of the 
Indian language may well be indicated by 
the names of the months. Talk to the 
children about the Indian papoose, the 
wigwam, how the Indian hunts, how he 
goes to war, the Indian dances, the Indian 
peace pipe, Indian superstitions, the Indian 
march, the Indian games, of the early set- 



216 Teachers' Manual 

tiers and their treaties with the Indians — 
especially the treaty made by William 
Penn — of the Indians in early colonial his- 
tory, of G-eneral Custer and the Indians. 
[Vid. "Boots and Saddles," by Mrs. Custer.] 
It was suggested in the Manual for the 
First Reader that a thorough description 
of Indian life be given to the children, 
basing the description, wherever it was 
possible, on material drawn from Long- 
fellow's poem. If the pupils have studied 
the First Reader for this lesson outlined in 
the Teachers' Manual, review the notes. 
[Vid. First Reader, Lessons LXII-LXV; 
Manual, pages 194-200.] If they have not 
studied the First Reader, then treat the 
notes in that Teachers' Manual as new 
matter. Many interesting books have been 
written dealing with Indian life and giving 
Indian legends. Mr. Deming, who has 
drawn the pictures for the three Indian 
stories in this Reader, has written, in con- 
junction with his wife, a book of stories 
dealing with the red folks (Frederick A. 
Stokes Company) ; and from Mary Cather- 
ine Judd's book, " Wigwam Stories " (Ginn 
& Company), we suggest the following, 
strongly advising the teacher to procure 



I 



Lessons XLI, XLVIII, XLIX 217 

the book, as it gives much valuable ma- 
terial for classroom use : 

" The Indians in the West tell this story [about clay- 
dishes and how they were made] : 

" A squaw left her two boys to care for her papoose 
while she worked. She was hidden in the wickiup or 
tent, and did not see what the boys were doing until the 
papoose began to cry. 

" The squaw found them all down by the river. They 
could not stir, for their feet were stuck fast in the wet 
clay of the river bank. She got her three children back 
to the wickiup. They laughed at their footprints in the 
clay, for they had left deep holes everywhere. 

" The band of Indians left their camp before the sun 
was over their heads. The squaw, with her papoose 
and her boys, was soon far away from the river bank; 
but during the hot summer, which was soon upon them, 
the same band returned to the river they had left. 

"The two little Indian boys went down to the clay 
bank where they had stuck fast. No rain had fallen since 
they had been there, and they found their footprints in 
the clay. These had dried until the mud was like stone. 

" The squaw came and looked at the holes. She took 
some clay in her hands and wet it in the river; then she 
shaped it like the hollow stone she used for cooking. 
She dried the clay in the sun, and it was soon hard. 

"An old chief saw the clay dishes and told the other 
squaws to make them, but the clay dishes would not 
hold water and broke very easily. 

" A squaw put some ashes and fire in her dish one 
day. She wanted to save the fire, for it was hard to get. 
The hot coals baked the dish, and it would not break. 
It held water; then the Indians knew how to make their 
clay dishes in the right way." 



318 Teachers' Manual 

Another book that will prove of interest 
is "The Legends of the Iroqnois," by Will- 
iam W. Canfield (A. Wessels Company). 

Plionetic§ : The teacher should prepare 
exercises for these lessons consistent with 
the ideas suggested in previous pages. 



LESSON XLII 



The L<es8on : There are stories, poems, 
legends — every imaginable kind of material! 
dealing with winter, snow, ice, frost, and J 
all of those characteristics that make win- 
ter so welcome to boys and girls. The 
land of snow and ice gives an opportunity 
to discuss the Eskimo children and their 
habits. For the teacher's own benefit there 
is a story of Klondike life, entitled "A 
Daughter of the Snows," by Jack London, 
which would give her some idea of the 
atmosphere of the place. 

Consult Lesson XL VI of the Standard 
First Reader [Manual for First Reader, 
page 139] , and repeat, as therein suggested, 
the explanation of ice floating upon the 



Lesson XLIII 219 

water, thus opening a way to a talk about 
icebergs. Therein also may be found 
many suggestions for poems and songs. 
Consult likewise the following books for 
material : 

(1) Cumulative Index of " St. Nicholas " Magazine. 

(2) Lovejoy's "Nature in Verse." 

(3) " St. Nicholas Song Book." 

(4) Wilson's "Nature Study." 

(5) " All the Year Round." 



LESSON XLIII 



Daffodil and Daisy : The two poems 
given in this lesson deal only with two 
flowers, but the purpose in introducing 
these poems is to cause the child, at an 
early age, to become familiar with some of 
those masterpieces in literature which are 
easily within reach of the child's compre- 
hension. Glancing through the poems we 
see no word that is not easily within the 
range of a child's vocabulary. There may 
be those words that are diflacult to pro- 
nounce, such as continuous, sprightly, joc- 
und, rallied, dune, words which, after being 
pronounced and explained, will readily be 



320 Teachers' Manual 

understood by the children. Tell something 
of the life of Wordsworth; what a great 
lover of nature he was, and how his poems 
are almost autobiographical in character. 

To the Teacher: In studying this 
lesson one of the chief objects is to make 
the child feel the spirit of the coming 
spring. We have advocated more than 
once the use of the masterpieces of litera- 
ture wherever possible; and the fact, for 
instance, that the two poems here used 
deal simply with two flowers is no reason 
that the conversation or classroom talk 
should be based on these two flowers alone. 
Other subjects that might be talked about 
are: (a) clouds, kinds of; (h) vales; (c) 
lakes; {d) Milky Way; (e) the bobolink; 
(/) June [see Lowell's poem, "The Vision 
of Sir Launfal" — "Oh! what is so rare as 
a day in June ? "] . 

In the "Books and Reading" department 
of "St. Nicholas "Magazine (Vol. XXVII), 
Mr. Tudor Jenks writes : 

" Young readers are often afraid of the very best 
books. They think there must be something forbidding 
in writings that have been looked up to for many years, 
and decide to wait until they are wiser before reading 
the great authors. Now, Hazlitt says: 'The difference 



Lesson XLIII 221 

between a tall and a short man is only a few inches, 
whereas they are both several feet high. -So a wise or 
learned man knows many things of which the vulgar are 
ignorant, but there is a still greater number of things 
the knowledge of which they share in common with 
him.' A great author will say some things we may 
not understand, but he will tell us a great many more 
truths we can share with him. Few writers of real 
eminence are obscure in writing, and where there is 
obscurity it is not often worth while to labor long to get 
at the author's meaning. Let your motto in reading be 
'Nothing is too good for me.' " 

Diplithong^al Drill : The diphthongal 
drill contains a review of the three diph- 
thongal sounds ai, au, and oi. The pho- 
netic sentence is put in diagram form, and 
should be reproduced upon the board in 
the same manner; silent letters are sepa- 
rated by a parenthesis. 



322 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON XLIV 



No more interesting spot can be found 
than the bear=pit of a zoological garden, 
where the black and white shaggy crea- 
tures sit before the bars, and anxiously 
contemplate the inquisitive groups of on- 
lookers. If crums of sweet things are 
thrown to them, out will come shaggy 
paws, and sweep up the crums better than 
any broom would do. 

The Polar Bear: From "American 
Animals," by Stone and Cram (Doubleday, 
Page & Company), we condense the fol- 
lowing account of several kinds of bears : 

The polar bear is 7 feet long and nearly all white; the 
fleshy parts of nose and lips black. Range, around the 
polar regions and Labrador. He goes under the ice- 
crusted places, where he watches for seals. No matter 
how cold the sea, he will approach a seal under water. 
Fish is also another part of his food. During the winter 
the bear with her cub remains in the snowhouse for 
warmth until the coming of spring enlarges the snow* 
room. 



Lesson XLIV 223 

The Black Bear: 

This is also called a cinnamon bear. He ie entirely 
black, with a brownish tinge, somewhat chestnut. 
Range, in the forest regions of North America. When 
compelled to fight he is very brave, but otherwise he 
is timid. Blueberries, roots, and bugs form his delicate 
repast. "Like all bears, they [black bears] are passion- 
ately fond of honey, and very clever at finding bee*trees. 
When a bear has discovered a bee=tree. he courageously 
attacks it with his teeth and claws, endeavoring to en- 
large the opening suiiiciently to enable him to reach the 
honey. But the stings of enraged insects about his nose 
and mouth cause him to stop frequently. If the bear is 
at work at the foot of the tree he can roll on the ground 
in order to get rid of his tormentors when the pain 
becomes too severe. ..." 

The Grizzly Bear : 

About 6 feet 6 inches long, with shaggy fur, of a 
brownish^yellow tinge. His range is from the Rocky 
Mountains of Utah to Alaska. He is the roughest and 
most ferocious bear of the world. His strength is pro- 
digious, and nowadays his big game consists of horses 
and cattle, and so he i8 disliked by the ranchmen. It 
is this bear that scratches the bark of a tree to let other 
bears know of his presence in the neighborhood. 

Reference§ : The teacher is referred 
to the cumnlative index of "St. Nicholas" 
Magazine, in which the following titles are 
to be f onnd : 

"Adventures of Grizzly "—vol. 2; pages 359-363. 
"Baby Sylvester" (B. Harte) — 1; 506-513. 



224 Teachers' Manual 



" The Bear That Had a Bank Account " (H. H. Boyesen) 
— 15; 106-111. 

"An Encounter with a Polar Bear "—8; 341-345. 

" Letter, from Bruin Polar Bear to Tommy "—21; 567- 
569. 

The teacher will find much interesting 
material in Ernest Thompson Seton's 
"Biography of a Grizzly." 

Plionetic§ : The teacher should take 
those words of the text that are difficult of 
pronunciation, and place them in phonetic 
spelling — such words as polar and grizzly ; 
sentences in phonetic spelling should also 
be written upon the board. 



LESSON XLV 



Review : This review lesson deals with 
the vowels grouped according to long, short, 
and variant sounds. The teacher should 
see that the words are carefully and dis- 
tinctly pronounced; she vdll have had 
occasion to find out the weak points in the 
pronunciation of particular words by cer- 
tain pupils. Have the words wi-itten on 



Lesson XLV ^25 



the blackboard in ordinary spelling, and 
sounded by the pupils. If there is any 
difficulty, the teacher should give as many 
side=lights as possible to aid in the recog- 
nition of these sounds; for example: sup- 
pose the child for the moment does not 
recollect that the g sound in fast is a vari- 
ant. Perhaps if the word grass, which 
contains the same sound, were given, the 
pupil would recognize the sound and the 
symbol that represents it. Then the teacher 
might say that the same sound is in the 
word fast. The diphthongal sounds at the 
end of the review should be drilled upon in 
the same manner. 

Spelling : It is not the province of a 
Reader to have graded spelling lessons; 
those words found in the appendix to the 
Reader, under the heading "Vocabulary," 
might, however, be grouped in regular 
graded lessons. 

To the Teacher: 

(1) We must train will-power, patience, endurance. 

(2) Says Bulwer, " Books suggest thoughts, thoughts 
become motives, motives prompt to action." 



15 



226 Teachers' 3Ianual 



LESSON XLYI 



Longfellow: Consult some standard 
works dealing with the poet's boyhood. 
The standard biography of Longfellow is 
edited by Samnel Longfellow, A shorter 
volume is to be found in "The American 
Men of Letters Series " (Houghton, Mifflin 
& Company), written by Thomas Went- 
worth Higginson. 

A few facts dealing with Longfellow's 
life as here given may not be amiss : 

1807 — February 27, born in Portland, 
Maine. Ancestry goes back to John Alden 
of the Plymouth Colony. 

1825 — Graduates from Bowdoin with 
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Goes abroad the 
same year. 

1829 — Returns to America and receives 
professorship of Modern Languages at 
Bowdoin College. 

1831 — Marries Mary Potter. 

1835 — Publishes ' ' Outre=Mer. " 

1835 — Professor of Modem Languages at 



Lesson XLVI 227 



Harvard, and goes to Europe. His wife 
dies the same year at Rotterdam. 

1836 — Occupies Craigie House at Cam- 
bridge. 

1843 — Third voyage to Europe: same 
year marries Frances Appleton. 

In quick succession his poems are pub- 
lished: 1839, " Voices of the Night " ; 1841, 
" Ballads and Other Poems " ; 1842, "Poem 
on Slavery " ; 1843, '' The Spanish Student " ; 
1847, ''Evangeline"; 1851, "The Golden 
Legend. " He wrote also : 1839, ' ' HjT)erion " 
(prose); 1849, "Kavanagh" (prose). 

1854 — Gives up all work save literary 
work, and is succeeded in the professorship 
by James Russell Lowell. 

1859 — Degree of LL.D. at Harvard. 

1868 — Degree of D. C. L. from Oxford and 
Cambridge. 

1882 — March 24, dies at Cambridge. 

From Samuel Longfellow's "Life" we 
quote the following: Longfellow's mother 
writes in 1807, "I think you will like my 
little Henry W. ; he is an active little rogue 
and wishes for nothing so much as singing 
and dancing." 

During the war of 1812, we hear from 
Longfellow's aunt: "Our little Henry is 



238 Teachers' Manual J 

ready to march; he had his tin gun pre- 
pared and his head powdered a week ago." 
In January, 1814, we find this little letter 
from Longfellow : 

"Dear Papa: 

"Ann wants a little Bible like little Betsey's. Will you 
please buy her one, if you can find any in Boston? I 
have been to school all the week, and got only seven 
marks. I shall have a billet on Monday. I wish you 
to buy me a drum." 

With all his liveliness, he disliked all 
loud noises and rude excitement. There 
is a family tradition of his having on some 
Fourth of July privately begged the maid 
to put cotton in his ears to deaden the 
sound of the cannon. 

In the library he found within easy reach 
Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Goldsmith, 
''The Spectator," "The Lives of the Poets," 
' ' Robinson Crusoe, " " The Arabian Nights. " 
Longfellow himself has said : 

"Every reader has his first book; I mean to say, one 
book among all others Avhich in early youth fascinates 
his imagination, and at once excites and satisfies the de- 
sires of his mind. To me, this first book was the ' Sketch» 
Book ' of Washington Irving. I was a schoolboy when 
it was published, and read each succeeding number with 
ever^increasing wonder and delight, spellbound by its 
pleasant humor, its melancholy tenderness, its atmos- 
phere of reverie — nay, even by its graybrown covers, 



Lesson XLVl 229 



the shaded letters of its titles, and the fair clear type, 
which seemed an outward symbol of its style. How 
Miany delightful books the same author has given us! . . . 
Yet still the charm of the ' Sketch«Book ' remains un- 
broken; the old fascination remains about it; and when- 
ever I open its pages, I open also that mysterious door 
which leads back into the haunted chambers of youth." 

:f; 3{; :{; 

" Out of my childhood," wrote Mr. Longfellow in later 
years, "rises in my memory the recollection of many 
things, rather as poetic impressions than as prosaic facts. 
Such are the damp mornings of early spring, with the 
loud crowing of cocks and the cooing of pigeons on roofs 
of barns. Very distinct in connection with these are the 
indefinite longings incident to childhood; feelings of 
wonder and loneliness which I could not interpret and 
scarcely then took cognizance of. But they have re- 
mained in my mind." 

Here is a description of Longfellow : 

" He was a very handsome boy. Eetiring, without being 
reserved, there was a frankness about him that won you 
at once. He looked you square in the face. His eyes 
were full of expression, and it seemed as though you 
could look dowTi into them as into a clear spring. , , . 
He had no relish for rude sports; but loved to bathe in a 
little creek on the border of Deering's Oaks; and would 
tramp through the woods at times with a gun, but this 
was mostly through the influence of others; he loved 
much better to lie under a tree and read. ... If he was 
a thoughtful, he certainly was not a melancholy boy; and 
the minor key to which so much of his verse is attuned, 
and that tinge of sadness his countenance wore in later 
years, were due to that first great sorrow that came upon 
him, which was chiseled still deeper by subsequent trials." 



230 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON XLVII 



From " uEsop's Fables " (Henry Altemus) 
we quote the following legend : 

^tory About tlie Oak : 

" An oak which, stood on the side of a brook was torn 
up by the roots in a storm, and as the wind took it down 
the stream its boughs caught on some reeds which grew 
on the bank. 

'"How strange it is,' said the oak, 'that such a slight 
and frail thing as a reed should face the blast, while my 
proud front, which, till now, has stood like an Alp, is 
torn down root and branch ! ' 

"A reed which caught the sound of these words said in 
soft tones, ' If I may be free with you, I think the cause 
of it lies in your pride. . . . You are stiff and hard, and 
trust in your own strength, while we yield and bow to 
the rough blast.' " 

It is worse to breaJc than to bend. 

[See page 134 of the Reader for Tenny- 
son's poem on "The Oak."] 

In "St. Nicholas " Magazine Julian Haw- 
thorne (vol. 6, p. 198 ct-333 cl) has written 
a story called " Rumpty=Dudget's Tower," 
a fairy=tale, full of fascination, in which 
the creeping ivy plays an important part. 



Lesson XLVII 231 

The L-esson : This lesson is condensed 
from Eugene Field's "A Little Book of 
Profitable Tales'" (Charles Scribner's 
Sons). It has been more or less changed, 
but the spirit of the whole has been re- 
tained while simplifying the construction 
and the words. The ivy should be de- 
scribed by the teacher and ivy=leaves 
shown. A diagram should be drawn upon 
the board, showing how the ivy creeps 
along the ground and up the sides of walls. 
It would be a good idea to call the pupils' 
attention to the shape and character of the 
poison=oak so that they may be able to 
avoid it. The ivy being a vine, see related 
subject in Reader; also the lesson on the 
oak. 

Plionetic§ : The phonetic drill consists 
of a review of the diphthongal au sound. 



232 Teachers' Mamial 



LESSON L 



Sentences : The pronunciation drills 
cover Lessons XLVni and XLIX. The 
words should be used in sentences so that 
the teacher will see that the meaning of 
each is thoroughly understood ; for instance : 
(a) He found gooseberries upon a bush. 
(&) The sturgeon was in the water. 

Ask the children questions such as the 
following. (1) What was the color of the 
plumage on Mondamin? (2) Who was 
Minnehaha? (3) Have you ever seen a 
grasshopper? (4) What grows from a cat- 
erpillar? (5) Do you know what is meant 
by silence? (6) Have you ever heard a 
pigeon coo? (7) Have you ever seen a 
cornfield with the tassels waving in the 
breeze? 

The sentences given below the pronun- 
ciation drill are to be used in the same way 
as in previous word=guessing lessons. [See 
First Reader, page 12.] 



Lesson LI 233 

Double ^Consonant Drill: (1) nn 

— Can no one help me? 

(2) mm — Come, ikfary, and read this 
lesson. 

(3) AVAV — The cow it?andered across the 
field. 

(4) tt — Le^ f o=rQorrow take care of itself, 
attend to to=day. 

To tlie Teacher: 

(1) Every teacher should have in her the spirit that 
was in Him who had compassion on the multitude. 

(2) See that you have a free hand to choose your books 
and your methods, or be like Lord Kitchener, who, when 
told to reorganize the army, asked, " Shall I have a free 
hand?" and the answer at first being no, he replied, 
" Then the place is not for me." 



LESSON LI 



The Lesson : The teacher will find 
farther on, in the notes dealing with this 
lesson, suggestions for legends based upon 
the swan, crow, hoTise=wren, and bobolink, 
and will also be given a list of poems which 
may either be read to the pupils or used 
as memory exercises. Note the following 



334 Teachers' Manual 

general description of the birds taken from 
the usual sources: "Bird Neighbors," 
"Bird Life," "Birds of Village and Field," 
and "Birds That Hunt and Are Hunted." 

S\i^aii (Whistling): 

Family.— Duck. Ol07' columbianus. 
Range.— Nesting around Arctic Ocean. 
Migration.— Arrival : April. Departure: October. 
Size.— A little under 5 feet. 
Food. — Mollusks, worms, roots. 
Nest.— Sticks and aquatic plants; lined with down. 
'EggB.—Mimber : 2 to 6. Color ; Grayish, 4 by 6 inches. 
[See story of Lohengrin,] 

These birds are noted for the bare skin 
between the eye and bill, which, with other 
differences of size, etc. , distinguishes them 
from geese. They migrate in V=shaped 
flocks like geese, and often utter loud 
trumpeting notes. Plumage of both sexes 
alike. Male and female, entire plumage 
white. Usually a yellow spot between the 
eyes and nostrils ; bills, legs, and feet black. 
[There are black swans, too.] 

Neltje Blanchan, who gives this infor- 
mation in "Birds That Hunt and Are 
Hunted," says that no more beautiful 
sight can be had than that of a flock of 
swans in the course of their migration ; it 



Lesson LI 235 

looks like a perfect regatta with a wing= 
spread often of sixty =seveii feet, moving 
like yacMs. Swans are said to fly at the 
rate of 100 miles per hour. The poets, 
the writer claims, are the ones who are 
responsible for the idea that the swans can 
chant; these birds are indeed among the 
worst of our singers. The theory of evo- 
lution accounts for the long neck of the 
swan. [See Mr. Chapman's "Bird Life" 
for discussion of this evolutionary theory.] 

American Crow : 

Family.— Crow. Corvus americanus. 

Range. — North America, from Canada to Mexico. 

Migration. — March and October; summer and winter 
resident. 

Size.— 16 to 171- inches. 

Food. — Grasshoppers, caterpillars, moths, mice, rab- 
bits, com. 

I^e^i. —r Location : Trees, bushes; many feet from 
ground. Matenal : Bulky, consisting of sticks, grape- 
vine, cedar=bark, sod, horsehair, moss, and grass. 

'Egg&.—Xumber: 4 to 6. Color : Pale bluish green, or 
nearly white, with light=brown markings. 

Male : Glossy black with violet reflec- 
tions. Wings appearing saw=toothed when 
spread; are almost equal to the tail in 
length. The female is similar to the male 
in size, etc.-, only less brilliant and black. 



336 Teachers' Manual 

To the farmer, Neltje Blanchan claims, 
"the crow is an unmitigated nuisance"; 
but she points to the fact that in the 
springtime the crow follows the plow, eat- 
ing larvae, field=mice, and worms, and thus 
becoming serviceable to a certain degree. 
However, young fledglings, ducks, tur- 
keys, and chicks are taken up and devoured 
by the crow. Birds' eggs are crushed and 
eaten on the spot. Birds' nests are des- 
troyed, besides which the crow spreads 
destruction in cornfields. New York State 
has offered a certain price for every crow's 
head. 

The American crow, claims Florence A. 
Merriam in her book "Birds of Village and 
Fields," roosts in great numbers. "One 
of the winter roosts is on historic ground 
at Arlington, the old home of G-eneral Lee. 
This roost covers fifteen acres of land, and 
all winter, from the middle of the after- 
noon till twilight, the birds may be seen 
from Washington crossing over the Poto- 
mac to the heights beyond." Miss Mer- 
riam claims that a scarecrow is of very 
little use in frightening a crow when he is 
intent on getting corn. But the way to pro- 
tect a crop, she says, is to soak some corn 



Lesson LI 237 

in tar and scatter it over the field, protect- 
ing at least eight or ten acres by a few 
quarts of corn thus saturated. The crow 
eats grasshoppers, tent=caterpillars, May 
beetles and other pests, and the gipsy* 
moth, besides which he kills field=mice, 
rabbits, and other harmful rodents. 

Hou§e=Wreii : 

Family.— Wren. Troglodytes aedon. 

Kange.— Nortli America, from Labrador to the Gulf. 

Migrsdion. — Arrival : April. Departure: October. 
Summer resident. 

Size.— 4^ to 5 inches; smaller than the sparrow. 

Food.— 98% animal; caterpillars, beetles, bugs, grass- 
hoppers, ants, spiders, moths, worms. 

Nest. — Location: In the hole of a tree and in the 
niches in a wall, behind shutters, rafters, etc. [See A. 
E. Dugmore's "Bird Homes."] Material: Twigs, hay, 
feathers; lined with feathers. 

Eggs.- iVwrnfter .■ 4 to 7. Color : Whitish ground, red- 
dish and pinkish brown or chocolate markings. 

The wrens are small birds more or less 
barred, with darkest brown above and 
much lighter below; tails erect; wings 
small for short flight. Vivacious, busy, 
excitable, easily displeased, quick to take 
alaim. Most of the species have scold- 
ing notes in addition to their lyrical, gush- 
ing song, that seems much too powerful a 



238 Teachers' Mariual 

performance for a diminutive bird. All 
are insectivorous. [Vid. "Bird Neigh- 
bors," page 13,] The male and female are 
similar in coloring and form: the upper 
parts being cinnamon-brown, with a deeper 
shade on neck and head; the back has 
obscure dusky bars. Wings and tail are 
finely barred. The under parts are whitish 
with grayish=brown wash. 

Mr. Chapman, in his "Bird Life," says 
that repose for the wren is out of the ques- 
tion: "As well expect to catch a weasel 
asleep as to find a wren at rest. ... He 
is ever hopping, flitting, bobbing, or bow- 
ing, pausing only long enough to give 
voice to his feelings in fidgety, scolding 
notes or an effervescing musical trill, with 
the force of which his small body trembles. " 

The Bobolink : 

Family.— Blackbird. Bolichotiyx oryzivorus. 

Range. — North America, from eastern coast to prairies. 

Migration. — Arrival : May. Summer resident. De- 
parture : August to October. 

Size.— 7 inches; trifle larger than English sparrow. 

Food.— Rice, caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, ants, 
seed; 37% animal, 63% vegetable. 

^e&i.— Location : On the ground and meadows. Ma- 
terial : Grass and leaves; lined with grass. 

Eggs. — Number: 3 to 6. Color: Varying from white 
■vvith chocolate markings to grayish buff with brown, 



Lesson LI 239 

In spring the male bobolink is black, 
with a light=yellow patch on the upper 
part of neck, also on edges of wings and 
on tail=f eathers ; middle of back streaked 
with pale buff; tail=feathers with pointed 
tips. [Fid "Bird Neighbors," page 61.] In 
autumn the plumage of the male resem- 
bles that of the female, which is dull yel- 
low=brown, with light and dark dashes on 
back, wings, and tail; two decided dark 
stripes on top of head. 

Neltje Blanchan writes that perhaps 
none of our birds has so fitted into song 
and story as the bobolink. "Unlike a 
good child, who should be seen and not 
heard, he is heard more frequently than 
seen. . . . The bobolink never soars like 
the lark, . . . but generally sings on the 
wing. . . . He also sings perched upon the 
fence or tuft of grass. He is one of the 
greatest poseurs among the birds." [Vid. 
poem, "Robert of Lincoln."] 

The Birds in Song : These birds are 
grouped to show their importance in the 
range of literature. The swan has figured 
throughout many medieval legends and is 
the basis of the story of Lohengrin, which 
is told elsewhere in the Second Reader. 



340 Teachers' Manual 

[Vid. page 159.] To show that children be- 
tween the ages of eight and ten would ap- 
preciate the music of "Lohengrin," here 
is the experience of a teacher at the Pratt 
Institute (Brooklyn). One morning, just 
before the hour for opening, the teacher 
sat down at the piano ready to play the lit- 
tle march that the children usually came 
in by. Unconsciously she began playing 
over certain parts of the " Lohengrin Wed - 
ding'March," and a little fellow ran up to 
her and said, "I know that piece." The 
teacher asked him what it was; he said, 
"I don't know the name of it, but they 
played it at my sister's wedding, and I 
think it is very pretty." Then, in response 
to the requests of the children, the wed- 
ding=march was played over again, and it 
was unanimously decided to substitute this 
march every morning for the simple ar- 
rangement that had formerly been used. 
Then the teacher suggested that she tell 
the children the story of Lohengrin, and 
so it went on until the legend was thor- 
oughly familiar to the children. 

The classics in art, simply because they 
are called classics, should not necessarily 
be beyond the grasp of a child. A thing 



Lesson LI 241 

that is classical may at the same time be 
simple. In a conversation with the opera 
barytone Mr. David Bispham, he touched 
upon the subject of music for children. 
He said that in the schools he was greatly 
in favor of having a graded course of songs 
by the very best composers, rather than 
the so-called kindergarten songs, which 
very often are as lifeless in character as 
the so-called kindergarten stories. He 
would have a select number of songs care- 
ftiUy graded, from the simple to the com- 
plex, consisting of pieces by Brahms, 
Schumann, Schubert, and Franz. 

Swan Maiden§ : In " The Science of 
Fairy Tales," by E. S. Hartland (Charles 
Scribner's Sons), there is a chapter dealing 
with Swan Maidens. (Consult pages 255- 
332, if the book is procurable.] In many 
fairy-tales dealing with the Swan Maidens, 
the latter are disguised as birds, but the 
character of the bird is not described. In 
some legends, the maid is referred to as a 
sea=f owl ; in others, simply as a bird, pref- 
erably a dove. We quote the following 
stories as given by Mr. Hartland (here 
condensed) : 

16 



242 Teachers' Manual 

In a Finnish tale a dead fatlier appears in a dream to 
liis three sons, telling them to watch by the sea at night, 
singly. Two of the boys are frightened by the darkness; 
the third, the youngest and disliked, watched until the 
dawn; and three geese came, stripped off their feathers, 
and plunged into the water to bathe. These geese were 
suddenly changed into three maidens. Of course, the 
youth fell in love with one of them. Elsewhere the 
birds are doves instead of geese, which is by far the 
more poetic version. 

Another tale coming from Bohemia tells of a boy 
whom a witch led to a spring near an old elm-tree, where 
flew three white doves, none other than three enchanted 
princesses. 

Tlie Croiv: Consnlt Chaucer's "Can- 
terbury Tales" ("Why the Crow Is 
Black ") , Phoebe Cary's "Crow's Children," 
and the old ballad "The Twa Corbies." 

Tlie Bobolink: 

" Daisies, clover, buttercup, 

Kedtop, trefoil, meadowsweet, 
Ecstatic wing, soaring up, 
Then gliding down to grassy seat. 

" Sunshine, laughter, mad desires, 
May day, June day, lucid skies. 
All reckless things that love inspires. 
The gladdest bird that sings and flies. 

"Meadows, orchards, bending sprays, 
Rushes, lilies, billowy wheat, 
Song and frolic fill his days, 
A feathered rondeau all complete. 



Lesso7i LII 243 

" Pink bloom, gold bloom, fleabane white, 
Dewdrop, raindrop, cooling shade, 
Bubbling throat and hovering flight, 
And jubilant heart as e'er was made." 

[Vid. Miss Merriam's "Birds of Village 
and Stream" ; also Chapman's "Bird Life."] 

The Wren : For stories about the 
wren, see Miss Merriam's "Birds of Vil- 
lage and Stream" (pages 45-48). 



LESSON LII 



This lesson deals with contraction in 
contrast with Lesson XL, in which expan- 
sion was treated at some length. The 
apparatus for this experiment is very sim- 
ple : a pan of ice, an iron ring, and an iron 
ball that will just not slip through the 
ring. In the morning, when the class has 
assembled, and it has been shown that the 
ball will not go through the ring, the ball 
should be packed in the ice and allowed to 
stay for several hours, after which it should 
be taken out, when it will be seen that it 
will just slip through the iron ring. The 



244 Teachers' Manual 

reason for this is as obvious as the reason 
for the expansion of the iron ball shown in 
a previous lesson. The particles of iron 
composing the ball, instead of being driven 
farther away one from the other, are 
brought closer together. The teacher 
should have everything in readiness for 
this experiment at the opening of the 
school=day, since it takes some time for the 
ball to become thoroughly chilled. 

Pronunciation Drill : The phonetic 
drill consists of a number of words con- 
taining diphthongal sounds and other sim- 
ple vowel sounds. These words, written 
in their ordinary spelling, should be 
sounded by the pupils, and should be 
placed upon the blackboard in phonetic 
spelling. The phonetic sentence is to be 
used as before suggested. 

To the Teacher : In the chapter on 
Science in "An Experiment in Education" 
(Harper & Brothers), by Mary R. Alling= 
Aber, the writer has the following to say : 

" Do not bring nature to the child, but take the child 
to nature; and when there let him keep his hands off 
until he has exhausted the capacities of eye and ear. . . . 
Within an hour's railway journey of many a large city 
in our land still remain natural features in almost undis- 
turbed, primeval grandeur; and we will venture to say 



Lesson LIII 245 



that in every such city enough is wasted each year in 
municipal carelessness to send the children of every 
school to these places for at least one day. . . . Nature's 
changes should be noted and followed with care to 
avoid conclusions until the cycle has been completed at 
least once: the migrations of birds; the formation of 
buds in the autumn and their expansion and further 
development in the spring; changes in the coats and 
colors of animals; the varying lengths of the life periods 
of plants and animals; the variations produced by dif- 
fering opportunities as to soil, moisture, sunlight, ex- 
posure, etc. . . . 

"The spirit which is found in the best postgraduate 
departments of the largest universities should be the 
spirit of work in all grades from the kindergarten up: a 
direct simplicity in dealing with phenomena, an avoid- 
ance of misplaced sentiment, a candid exposure of error 
and of the limitations of present knowledge, a genuine 
humility, and a reverent courage." 



LESSON LIII 



The Poems : Two stanzas of a poem 
by James Whitcomb Riley are here taken 
from Ms ''Rhymes of Childhood." They 
contain a moral significance that in the 
schoolroom should be emphasized by the 
teacher. There is no cloud, however dark, 
that has not a silvery lining. In other 



246 Teachers' Manned 

words, it is much better to laugh than to 
be sighing. And, truly, experience will 
show that Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox's 
philosophy in her poem "Laugh and the 
World Laughs with You " is true, since if 
we weep, undoubtedly we shall weep alone. 
Mankind is only too ready to join in fun; 
where sorrow and grief are concerned we 
come to a more individual feeling ; so that 
Mr. Riley's poem, where he advises us to 
keep on the sunny side of life, is one that 
will form the basis for many stories of 
contentment in the many spheres of life. 

Topics to Be Discussed: Examin- 
ing the text, we find that the following 
subjects might be emphasized: (a) robin; 
(&) peach=tree ; (c) bluebird ; {d) pear-tree ; 
(e) moral significance of the second stanza. 

Poems : Frank L. Stanton, in his book 
of poems, "Up from Georgia," shows that 
in the ordinary life he can treat of things 
in an optimistic way. For instance, see 
his poem entitled "Pretty Good World," 
from which we quote the following stanza : 

" Pretty good world with its hopes and its fears- 
Pretty good world, good people! 
Sun twinkles through the rain of its tears- 
Pretty good world, good people! 



Lesson LIII 247 



Better be here in the pathway you know — 
Where the thorn's in the garden, where sweet 

roses grow, 
Than to rest where you feel not the fall of the 

snow- 
Pretty good world, good people." 

Another poem is entitled ' ' Tollable Well, " 

from which we have quoted the following 

stanza : 

'' 'Course he had trouble an' sorrow 
(Come to us all fer a spell), 
But, seein' a brighter to=morrow, 
He alius' felt ' tollable well.' " 

Another poem is called ''Just Whistle," 
one stanza of which is as follows : 

" When times are bad an' folks are sad. 
An' gloomy day by day, 
Jest try your best at lookin' glad 
An' whistle 'em away." 



348 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LIY 



We have had occasion to call attention 
to the importance of studying the lives of 
great men. History has been defined by 
Carlyle as the biography of great men. In 
the history of a nation, and especially of 
the United States, there are certain men 
who stand out as representing the spirit of 
certain epochs. Such a man V7as Abraham 
Lincoln, who came at a time when the 
nation was distraught within itself con- 
cerning the questions of slavery and state 
rights. Raised from the lowliest position 
to the highest that a nation could give him, 
Lincoln won his place through the sheer 
force of a personality that surmounted 
every obstacle. Of the life of Abraham 
Lincoln much has been written. John Hay, 
the present Secretary of State, was Lin- 
coln's private secretary, and in conjunction 
with Nicolay he has published an authen- 
tic life of the great President. See Miss 
Tarbell's "Life of Lincoln," published in 
"McClure's Magazine"; likewise articles 



Lesson LIV 249 



in the '' Centnry " and " St. Nicholas " Mag- 
azines. From the last=nanied publication 
we have taken the following suggestions : 

In the department entitled "Books and 
Reading," Mr. Tudor Jenks, in talking of 
Lincoln's books used when he was a boy, 
writes: 

" There was no need for Mm to consult a list of the 
one hundred best books. His earliest possession con- 
sisted of less than one-half dozen volumes, a pioneer's 
library. . . ."" 

(a) The Bible. 

(6) "Pilgrim's Progress." 

(c) "^sop's Fables." 

(<D United States History. 

(e) Weem's "Life of Washington." 

"From the Bible, 'Pilgrim's Progress," and '^sop's 
Fables,' the boy Lincoln learned the power and beauty 
of plain English words. . . . When, therefore, in later 
life he wished to be sure he understood any matter, it 
became his custom to translate it into words such as a 
child can understand." 

The lesson given in the Standard Second 
Reader is based upon Col. Henry "Watter- 
son's speech, delivered before the Lincoln 
Club of Chicago, February 12, 1895; the 
lesson was forwarded to Mr. Watterson, 
and approved in the fonn in which it is 
now published. [Read the speech, pub- 
lished in "Modem Eloquence."] 



250 Teachers' Manual 

Cbronolojg^ical : 

1809 — February 12, Lincoln is born 

1825 — Becomes a ferryman on the Ohio, receiving $6 

per month as salary. 
1830 — Moves to Illinois. 
1832— Captain in Black Hawk Indian War. 
1832 — Runs for Assemblyman. Is defeated. 

1832 — Studies law. 

1833 — Postmaster. 

1834 — Is elected to Legislature. 

1836 — Is reelected. 

1837 — Is admitted to the bar. 
1839 — Settles in Springfield. 
1839— Debate with Douglas. 
1842 — Marries Miss Mary Todd. 
1846 — Is elected to Congress. 

1854 — Takes stand against slavery. » 

1860 — Is nominated for President of the United States, 

and is elected. 

1861 — Inauguration. 

1861 — April 12, bombardment of Port Sumter. 

1862 — Sept. 22, emancipation proclamation. 

1864 — Lincoln is reelected President. 

1865 — Lee's surrender. 

1865 — April 4, Lincoln is shot by Booth. 
1865 — April 5, Lincoln dies. 

This material, taken from "Holy=Days 
and Holidays" (Funk & Wagnalls Com- 
pany), gives some of the chief events of 
this great man's life. The teacher is, in 
simple language, to explain the importance 
of Lincoln in the history of the United 
States; and especially to bring out that 



Lesson LIV 251 



strong element, friendship to the South, so 
well explained in Mr. Watterson's speech. 
Lincoln was a just man, he was a kind 
man, he was a God=f earing man ; in all his 
work he was prompted by a religious fer- 
vor. It is interesting to read what another 
martyred president thought of Abraham 
Lincoln. In an address made in 1895 Will- 
iam McKinley said : 

" What were the traits of character which made him 
leader and master, without a rival, in the greatest crisis 
in our history ? What gave him such mighty power ? 
Lincoln had sublime faith in the people. He walked 
with and among them. He recognized the importance 
and power of an enlightened public sentiment, and was 
guided by it. Even mid the vicissitudes of war, he con- 
cealed little from public review and inspection. In all 
he did he invited rather than evaded examination and 
criticism. He submitted his plans and purposes, as far as 
practicable, to public consideration, with perfect frank- 
ness and sincerity. . . . He had that happy peculiar 
habit, which few public men have attained, of looking 
away from the deceptive and misleading influences 
about him — and none are more deceptive than those of 
pubcli life in our capitals — straight to the hearts of the 
people. He could not be deceived by the eelf-^interested 
host of eager counselors who sought to enforce their 
own particular views upon him as the voice of the coun- 
try. He chose to determine for himself what the people 
were thinking about and wanting him to do; and no 
man ever lived who was a more accurate judge of their 
opinions and wishes." 



252 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LV 



Bible Paraphra§e: See note for 
Lesson LXXXVI, page 174 of the Reader. 



LESSON LVI 



The f ull'page color illustration of ' ' Chil- 
dren of All Nations" was introduced for 
the purpose (a) of teaching the children 
how to tell time and how to make a paste- 
board clock ; {h) of giving them an oppor- 
tunity of learning something of the charac- 
teristics of the children of other nations. 

The Clock : Take a piece of cardboard 
and cut a square 12 by 12 inches. Upon 
one side of this, with a pair of compasses, 
draw a circle, with a radius equal to the 
distance between the center of the square 
and the center of one of the sides. Indi- 
cate tke different hour=points, and from 



Lesson LVI 253 



another piece of cardboard cut two hands 
similar to the hands of a clock. Put these 
on the face of the clock and clamp with a 
piece of wire so they may be moved. The 
teacher may base definite exercises on the 
telling of time ; for instance, ask the follow- 
ing questions: "What time do you go to 
school?" "What time do you have your 
lunch?" "What time do you go home in 
the afternoon?" "What time do you go 
to bed?" 

Addition : The teacher may also base 
lessons on addition, following the question- 
ing idea: "It is now fifteen minutes past 
three; what time will it be in an hour?" 
"It is now twenty =eight minutes past five; 
what time will it be in twenty-five min- 
utes?" "It is now eight o'clock in the 
morning; what time will it be in fifteen 
minutes ? " 

Subtraction : " It is now twelve 
o'clock ; what time was it five hours ago ? " 
A good way of teaching children addition 
and subtraction is as follows : Say the sun 
rises in the east and sinks in the west; 
those places east of us see the sun before 
we do, and those places west of us see the 
sun after we have seen it go down. People 



254 Teachers' Manual 

living in New York are west of London 
and east of San Francisco ; there is about 
five hours' difference between the time in 
each place as compared with our time. 
Suppose it is 3 P. M. in New York : London, 
being east of New York, saw the sun rise 
five hours earlier than we did. Therefore 
the time must be five hours later than our 
time. The people in San Francisco saw 
the sun rise five hours later than we did. 
Therefore the San Francisco time must be 
earlier than ours. 

Illustration : The teacher will be 
able to base a number of interesting talks 
upon the details brought out in the pic- 
ture. It is impossible, in the limits of a 
book of this kind, to give material dealing 
with all the children in the picture. The 
accompanying diagram explains the colored 
picture in the Reader. Beginning with the 
little girl whose head is between Father 
Time's beard and the numeral I, the chil- 
dren, in regular order, represent the follow- 
ing nations : (a) America and England ; (&) 
France; (c) Germany; {d) Holland; (e) 
Italy; (/) China; (g) Philippine Islands; 
{h) Japan; (i) Russia; {j) Greenland (Es- 
kimo) ; {k) America (piccaninny); {D 



Lesson LVI 



255 



America (Indian) , By consulting the cumu- 
lative index of "St. Nicholas" Magazine 
and also "Little Folk of Many Lands," by 
Miln (Charles Scrlbner's Sons), much detail 
may be procured. Let the children talk 




about the details of the picture — the kites, 
the games, etc. Read to the children inter- 
esting anecdotes about the different nations. 
If practicable, the flags of all nations might 
also be introduced and given to the children 
while they are marching in the morning 



256 Teachers' Manual 

into the classroom, or during the actual 
progress of the lesson. It was suggested, in 
the Manual for the First Reader, that the 
child be taught the different flag=signals. 

Sentences : Altho there is no text accom- 
panying the illustration, the teacher might ' 
place upon the blackboard sentences based 
upon the different figures in the picture : 

1. Japan is the land of fans. 

2. Have you ever seen a Chinaman eat 
rice with chop=sticks ? 

3. Piccaninnies eat watermelons. 

4. French children know how to dance, 
etc. 

Questions : The teacher should ask 
questions concerning the details of the pic- 
ture : 

1. What are some of the differences 
between Chinese and Japanese children ? 

2. How does an Eskimo dress ? 

3. How do you know that this is a Japa- 1 
nese child ? 

Related Topics : Consult the lessons 
on Holland (see Reader, page 137) . Consult 
poem "In Tokyo" (see Reader, page 127). 
Consult lesson on Indian life (see Reader, 
page 93). Consult lessons on polar bear 
(see Reader, page 99). 



Lesson LVII 357 



LESSON LYII 



Oame : Full directions for playing the 
game forming this lesson have been given 
under the diagram on page 123 of the 
Reader. 

Exercises: The diagram admits of a 
number of uses. The addition, as far as 
the game is concerned, goes only as far as 
forty^one. However, it might be carried 
much further. Take the circle surrounding 
the word Home : 

40 + 39 = 79 

40 + 38 = 78 
38 + 39 = 77 

The teacher might ask the pupils to add 
together the different figures in the inner 
circle. This would form a line consisting 
of ten figures. 

The same will hold good in the subtrac- 
tion. The following might be placed upon 
the board : 

17 



258 Teachers' Manual I 



26 - 11 = 15 
22 - 5 = 17 
18 - 1 = 17 
40-39= 1 



LESSON LYIII 



The teacher, in dealing with the story by- 
Lewis Carroll, which is here introduced, 
should treat the lesson purely as a story, 
altho certain nature details might be in- 
troduced, based upon material taken from 
natiire books heretofore mentioned. The 
story is supposed to be more or less fanciful, 
the usual vein of the author of "Alice in 
Wonderland." It is introduced here to 
make the children interested in Lewis 
Carroll's work. Read to the children parts i 
of "Alice in Wonderland" from day to day 
until the book is finished. Keep the chil- 
dren interested in the various little poems 
scattered throughout the book. 

The teacher will find of service the little 
book, "Through the Looking-Glass," and 
also of a character similar to that of the 



Lesson LVIII 259 

two books mentioned above the Rev. 
Charles Kingsley's ''The Water Babies," 
from which we quote the following : 

" When all the world is young, lad, 

And all the trees are green ; 
And every goose a swan, lad. 

And every lass a queen ; 
Then hey for boot and horse, lad, 

And round the world away ; 
Young blood must have its course, lad. 

And every dog his day. 

" When all the world is old, lad. 

And all the trees are brown ; 
And all the sport is stale, lad, 

And all the wheels run down ; 
Creep home, and take your place there. 

The spent and maimed among : 
God grant you find one face there 

You loved when all was young ! " 

It is doubtful whether children will get 
the true significance of the parable intro- 
duced into "The Water Babies" by Dr. 
Kingsley. However, they will get enough 
of the story to amuse them, and the book 
as a whole is a child classic. 



360 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LIX 



The Elephant : The teacher will find 
it advantageous to start with a discussion 
of the picture in which three elephants are 
to be seen. There is hardly a child that 
does not know the elephant. Of all ani- 
mals this one has characteristics most 
easily remembered by the children — long 
ears, a long trunk, tremendous body, small 
tail, a thick skin, and ivory tusks. 

Consult books of reference concerning 
details of elephant life. An interesting 
book upon the subject is that by Rudyard 
Kipling's father, John Lockwood Kipling 
(Macmillan & Company, 1891), entitled 
"Beast and Man in India." In this book 
there is a chapter dealing with the elephant 
and his position in Indian life. From this 
book the following is condensed : 

Next after the cow, the elephant seems 
to be of all beasts the Hindu favorite — a 
favorite of the poet as well as the artist. 
A raja will spend four^fifths of his income 



Lesson LIX 261 



in caring for him. The elephant is a sym- 
bol of power. Dressing him for parade 
is long and tiresome. He is docile but 
mischievous. "The elephant is made for 
display as a mountain range for the sun- 
set effect." But the beast "is much less 
steady than a brick wall." The great 
baby is washed ; he plays like a child with 
the water. Then he is painted : forehead, 
trunk, and ears — made perfect works of 
art. When dressed he plays all sorts of 
tricks to disarrange himself and soil his 
finery, "just as it is the natural inclination 
of the smartly dressed boy to go straightway 
and make mud pies." It is not easy to haul 
an elephant up a ship's side and down into 
the hold. Mr. Kipling tells a story of how, 
long ago, some elephants swaying a vessel 
liked the motion and swayed more and 
more until there was great danger of the 
vessel's capsizing. 

The Indian government realizes the good 
qualities of the elephant, but considers him 
"a decidedly stupid animal." This state- 
ment is not true, says Mr. Kipling ; ' ' sim- 
plicity of character were a better word than 
stupidity ; an elephant can be taught many 
things." 



262 Teachers' Manual 

As to strength, the elephant has great 
carrying power, his normal load being 
eight hundred pounds — equivalent to that 
borne by eight ponies, five pack=niules, or 
more than three camels. With this load, 
the elephant travels well, being valuable in 
a jungle country. 

In Indian government service, writes Mr. 
Kipling, only female elephants are used, 
from twenty to thirty years of age. Male 
animals are preferred by princes on ac- 
count of their greater size. An elephant 
at twenty =five years of age may be com- 
pared to a human being of eighteen. He 
attains his full strength and weight at 
about thirty =five, and has been known to 
live one hundred and twenty years. 

He is useful in forest=clearing, and has 
been yoked to the plow. He can carry a 
log supported by tusk and trunk. He is 
rather expensive to keep. Rice, wheaten 
flour cakes, fodder, stalks, and leaves of 
various kinds are given him, and a cheerful 
drink after fatigue and cold is rum, brandy, 
or arrack, mixed with ginger, cloves, and 
pepper. But his caretaker often steals most 
of it. A rope or chain fastened to a stake 
is sufficient restraint, fixed in such a way 



Lesson LIX 263 



as to allow of his turning around. Outside 
of India the elephant is disappearing, but 
steps are being taken to keep him in certain 
other localities. 

A book the teacher might consult to 
advantage would be "The Ivory King," a 
popular history of the elephant and his 
allies, by Charles Frederick Holder (Charles 
Scribner's Sons, 1886) . From it the follow- 
ing is condensed : 

Wild elephants usually travel in herds 
of thirty or fifty [Chapter II, "Habits and 
Ways of Elephants"]. *A band of one 
hundred elephants will consume eighty 
thousand pounds of fodder a day. They 
can perform most remarkable feats for 
clumsy beasts. They are sure=footed and 
can climb very steep hills and are very 
careful going down. 

The sense of smell of an elephant is so 
delicate that a tame elephant will recognize 
the presence of a wild one three miles away, 
and by his actions inform the mahout. In 
elephant language a squeaking noise means 
pleasure ; a shrill and a low, hoarse mumble 
means rage and war. 

Elephants rest in the middle of the night. 
They are early risers, their hour being 



264 Teachers' Manual 

about three in the morning; they take 
short naps during the day. The African 
elephants use their enormous ears as fans 
during hot weather. 

The elephants are fond of water and they 
spout it around with their trunks. They 
are great swimmers, despite their size ; some 
having swum for six consecutive hours 
without touching the bottom. Male ele- 
phants are about nine to ten feet high. 
Females are usually smaller. 

Elephants are easily alarmed, especially 
by smaller animal*s. 

A baby elephant at birth weighs about 
two hundred and forty pounds. 

To give some idea of the scope of "The 
Ivory King," note the following chapter 
headings : 

"Natural History of the Elephant"; 
"Habits and Ways of Elephants"; "The 
Intelligence of the Elephants " ; " The Mam- 
moth"; "Three= and Four^Tusked Ele- 
phants"; "Tusks"; "How Asiatic Ele- 
phants Are Confined Alive"; "Asiatic 
Elephants in Captivity"; "Hunting the 
Asiatic Elephants"; "Baby Elephants"; 
' ' Tuskers at Work " ; " Ivory. " 

See Kipling's "Jungle Books" (The Cen- 



Lesson LIX 265 



tury Company, 1894), "Toomai of the Ele- 
phants." This one of Mr. Rudyard Kipling's 
inimitable stories is well known and would 
interest the children ; with apologies to the 
author, an outline of the story is herewith 
reproduced : 

Among the many elephants that played an important 
part in the service of the Indian government, there was 
one named Kala Nag. His driver was Big Toomai, 
whose family for years had been among the greatest of 
elephant'drivers, and great was the family boast that the 
grandfather of little Toomai had at one time seen the 
elephants dance, a sight not given to many mortal men. 
Now, it happened that one evening as the elephants 
were being driven into their pens, little Toomai helped 
one of the men fasten securely an unruly elephant, and 
great was the fear of Little Toomai's father ; to the sahib 
the wonderful feat of Little Toomai was told, and he 
spoke to Little Toomai, who, in front of the great white 
.man, was held aloft upon the trunk of Kala Nag. And he 
bade the little fellow take care, else some day he might 
be trampled under foot. "• And am I never to go near 
the elephants ? " asked Little Toomai. " Yes," said the 
white man, "after you have seen the elephants dance in 
the forest." Every one laughed at this, for no one among 
them had ever seen the wonderful dance in the forest. 

But Toomai, as children will, thought of what the 
white sahib had said, and long iuto the night he pondered 
on how best he might see this wondrous tlung. Near 
him stood Kala Nag, and overhead the stars shone out 
of the blackness of the night. Suddenly, far off, there 
sounded a note, and Kala Nag raised his ears and listened ; 
then he moved forward silently among the sleeping 



366 Teachers' Manual 



1 



elephants, and after him ran Little Toomai. " Take me 
with you ! " he cried. And oat came the big tiunk, and 
around the little body it curled, and ofE the two went 
into the foreet, brushing against the branches and soon 
coming up with other elephants traveling in the same 
direction. At last Toomai saw an open space, where 
from the back of Kala Nag he looked down upon a sea 
of elephants close together. Kala Nag seemed to be the 
leader of the band. What he did the others did ; when 
he swayed from side to side the others swayed from side 
to side, and when he stamped upon the gi-ound the others 
stamped too, until Little Toomai thought that the earth 
would shake to pieces and that he would fall from the 
back of Kala Nag. What could it mean ? Perhaps— and 
here Little Toomai shivered in the cold night air — perhaps 
this was the elephants' dance ! Then a weakness came 
over him, and he wished himself at home ; but there was 
no way out of it now ; he clung to the elephant's back 
and peered into the sea before him. For two hours there 
was a stamping, calling, blowing, and shuffling of clumsy 
feet, and at the first sign of dawn, as if by magic, the 
elephants disappeared. Then Kala Nag took Little 
Toomai back, not to his home, but to the home of the 
white sahib. Here Little Toomai, exhausted and — oh, 
so sleepy ! — fell before the sahib in a faint ; and when 
he was made comfortable in the sahib's great coat, men 
gathered around and heard of the wonderful things that 
had befallen him during the night. And they marveled 
much. At Little Toomai's home the great men praised 
him and predicted for him a great future when he, too, 
would be large enough to be famed among the elephant- 
drivers. "Call him, my people," said a sage among 
them, " not ' Little Toomai ' at present, nor ' Big Toomai ' 
when he is grown, " but forever and forever let his fame 
be spread as ' Toomai of the Elephants.' " 



Lesso7i LIX 267 



Pronuneiation Drill: The teacher 
should carefully examine the text and also 
pay particular attention to the pronuncia- 
tion of the words by the children during 
the reading of the text. If there are any 
words that are slurred, or any great de- 
fects in speech, the teacher should spend 
time in correcting such errors. We have 
often heard children pronounce the word 
"elephant" "efelant," in which the con- 
sonants / and I or ph and I were trans- 
posed. This should be guarded against. 
These may be only slips of the tongue, but 
they are hard to break in after=years. 

Concerning the reading of the lesson, this 
should always be done by the children, after 
the teacher has discussed the details and 
read the lesson over to the pupil. If the 
teacher sees that the pupils are becoming 
tired, she should read to them one of 
Kipling's stories. 



368 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LX 



The Lesson : This lesson consists of a 
poem, which should be memorized by the 
pupils. Herein has been followed the word= 
guessing idea of the First Reader, where 
some of the words of the different verse= 
lines have been represented by simple 
outline drawings, in place of the words 
themselves. For example, in the order in 
which the illustrations in the text occur, 
the pupil will see the following : eyes, 
shoe, chair, bed, knife, fork, spoon, feet, 
sandals, pillow, box, stoves, tray, chop- 
sticks, dolls, maids. In guessing these 
words, if the pupils find any difficulty in 
recognizing the objects, the teacher should 
throw as many sidelights as possible, help- 
ing the children to come to a correct 
solution. 

The lesson relates enough characteris- 
tics of the little Japanese maid to form 
sufficient talk during the hour's study. A 
pleasing effect might be obtained, during 



Lesson LXI 269 



any school entertaimnent, with Japanese 
fans and lanterns, which are inexpensive, 
and conld be used by a certain number of 
the children in a Japanese drill, Gilbert 
and Snllivan's operetta "The Mikado" 
contains some pleasing and simple little 
songs which might be used to advantage in 
the classroom ; such songs, for instance, as 
' ' Three Little Maids from School, " etc. In 
fact, the teacher might first read the story 
of the opera over and later tell it to the 
children in simple language, playing the 
different airs upon the piano. 



LESSON LXI 



Review : The teacher will find two 
divisions: (1) four diphthongal sounds in 
which special attention should be paid to 
the iu sound ; (2) a pairing of the long and 
the short vowels of the fundamental sounds 
of the Scientific Alphabet. Throughout the 
directions for holding the organs of speech, 
it will be seen that there is no difference 
made in the positions of the organs while 



270 Teachers' Manual 

making a long sound and their positions 
while producing the corresponding short 
sound ; so that if a drill upon the short sound 
of a as in sofa be given, it would be much 
clearer to the pupils, and much more fruit- 
ful of results, to have them produce the 
a sound as in arm immediately thereafter. 
In this way the logical arrangement of the 
vowel sounds of the Scientific Alphabet 
will become apparent to the teacher. Drill 
the child in the making of those symbols 
which represent particular sounds ; for ex- 
ample, the symbol for the u sound in churn. 
Ask the question: "What words do you 
remember that contain this sound ? " Put 
this in the form of a game, so that the 
child who guesses the greatest number of 
these words shall win the game. 

I>ra win§^ lie§soii : In the First Reader 
a short lesson based on the straight line 
was given. In this lesson it will be seen 
that by mdans of a straight line boxes of 
different shapes may be constructed. The 
teacher must be careful in dealing with 
perspective. The object in lessons such as 
these is to accustom the child to a free and 
easy movement of the hand, and also to 
train him in accuracy. Teach the child to 



Lessons LXII, LXIII 271 

tell how far away certain objects are from 
him, how high a chair is, how long a book 
is, etc. Train the eye to see things in their 
proper value. As observation in natnre 
studies train the eye to detect small things 
that go unobserved by the casual observer, 
so drawing should not only cultivate taste 
as to form, but should also train the eye in 
actually observing the forms and propor- 
tions of surrounding objects. 



LESSON LXII 



Bible Paraphrase: See note on 
Lesson LXXXVI, page 174 of the Reader. 



LESSON LXIII 



Poem: " April Showers. " The stanzas 

are to be memorized by the children, and 
the difficult words are to be placed with 
their phonetic spellings upon the blackboard 
by the teacher. 



272 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LXIV 



The Oak : In the study of this tree, 
adhere to some definite plan in giving 
descriptions of the different parts. There 
are two colored pictures of the oak-tree in 
the Reader, one showing it in spring and 
the other in autumn. 

The shape of the oak=leaves does not 
alter with the change in color. Call atten- 
tion to the peculiar appearance of the 
branches coming from the main trunk ; 
how graceful the tree is where the roots 
have a snakelike character as they cling to 
the rocks when they are partially exposed. 
Call attention to the leaves, the height, the 
color of the bark, the color of the wood, 
etc. From Harriet Keeler's "Our Native 
Trees," pages 323 and 324, we condense the 
following descriptions and tables concern- 
ing oak=trees : 

The bark of every species is heavily charged with tannic 
?,cid. The trees are of great strength. Most oaks proba- 



Lesson LXIV 373 



bly require a century to reach maturity. They rarely 
bear acorns until twenty years of age, and increase in 
productiveness as they grow older. 

WHITE OAK 

Name. — Oak, Quercus alba. 

Family,— Oak. 

Species.— White. 

Height.— 80 to 100 feet. 

Trunk diameter.— 3 to 4 feet. 

Distribution.— Is tolerant of many soils, reaching its 
greatest height in Valley of Ohio. 

Bark.— Light gray, varying to dark gray and white. 

Color of wood.— Light brown. 

Description of wood.— Strong, tough, heavy, fine* 
grained, durable, beautiful. 

Use of wood. — Construction, ship^building, cooperage, 
agricultural Implements, interior finish of houses, cabinet- 
making. 

Shape of leaf.— 5 to 9 inches long, 3 to 4 inches wide; 
obovate or oblong; 7- to 9«lobed. 

Color of leaf. — Bright yellow»green. 

Color of leaf in autumn. — Deep red. 

Time of flowering.— May. 

Fruit.— Acorns (nuts). 

It is the most valuable as well as the 
most stately and beautiful of our oaks. 
The white oak, however, is passing, and 
unless replanted will ere long disappear. 
Its value for timber causes it to have for 
its enemy the ax. Before the nuts have time 
to germinate, on account of their sweet- 
ness most of them are eaten by animals. 

18 



374 Teachers' Manual 

BED OAK 

Name.— Oak. Quercus rubra. 

Family. — Oak. 

Species, — Red. 

Height.— 70 to 140 feet. 

Distribution. — From Maine to Georgia and Tennessee, 
westward to Minnesota and Kansas. 

Bark.— Dark gray, brown tinged with red; with broad, 
thin, rounded ridges; scaly. 

Color of wood.— Pale reddish brown. 

Description of wood.— Heavy, hard, strong, coarse- 
grained. 

Use of wood.— Furniture, construction, and interior of 
houses. 

Shape of leaf .—7 to 9 inches long, 4 to 6 inches broad, 
terminating with long, bristle=pointed teeth; oblong 
ovate; 7» to 9*lobed. 

Color of leaf.— Dark green and smooth; sometimes 
shiny above. 

Color of leaf in autumn. — Rich red, sometimes brown. 

Time of flowering. — May. 

Fruit. — Acorns (nuts). 

Stories : The inhabitants of Greece and 
early Britain worshiped the oak=tree. Its 
beauty and majesty were the glory of the 
forests. 

Its fruit, the acorn, was an important 
article of food to the inhabitants of early 
Europe, and is still sold for that purpose in 
parts of Asia Minor and Spain. In our 
country the bear, the raccoon, the squirrel, 
the wood=pigeon, and the swine fatten on 
acorns. 



Lesson LXIV 275 



The bark of many species of the oak is 
used for dyeing and tanning. The bark of 
the cork=oak gives ns cork. The wood of the 
oak is noted for its strength, hardness, and 
durability. 

There are still standing in England oaks 
known to be from a thousand to twelve 
hundred years old. 

"In an old oak in Boscobel forest, King Charles II. 
remained successfully concealed for a day after the battle 
of Worcester, from which circumstance the oak became 
a Stuart emblem. The accession of Charles was long 
celebrated as a holiday under the name of ' Royal Oak 
Day.' , . . The Yule log. . . burned at each of the great 
feasts of the Druids was of oak." 

The Round Table of King Arthur, still 
shown at Winchester and said to be genuine, 
is a cross=section of an oak=tree. 

The Greeks believed the oak to be the 
first tree that grew on earth, and the Greeks, 
Romans, and Germans considered it sacred 
to the king of the gods. 

A chaplet of oak=leaves was the highest 
honor that could be given a Roman soldier. 

The next most famous oak to the Charter 
Oak is the one near Fishkill=on=the=Hudson, 
near which it is said Washington used to 
mount his horse. 



276 Teachers' Manual 

Pronunciation Drill : This consists 
in part of a diphthongal drill on ai and au. 
The poem by Tennyson given at the end of 
the lesson might be used to advantage by 
the teacher for phonetic exercises. Take 
the difficult words in turn and have them 
sounded and spelled phonetically; place 
the phonetic spelling upon the blackboard. 
This will not take very much time and will 
immediately show how well the pupils are 
retaining the impressions left by the pho- 
netic drills of former lessons. It should 
be seen that the symbols representing the 
sounds are remembered by the pupils. 
The teacher who is at all familiar with the 
Nibelungenlied cycle will recollect the 
scene in "Die Walkiire" where Sigmund 
draws the sword from the side of an ash= 
tree. In the original Icelandic saga this 
is an oak=tree. Let the teacher tell the 
story of how the sword was drawn from 
the heart of this ancient wood. 



Lesson LXV 277 



LESSON LXV 



Phonetics: Altho no phonetics are 
given, let the teacher take from the text 
such words as Athena, Arachne, queeyi, 
loom, Greece, surpass, spider-web, etc., and, 
after having the vowels and consonants 
sounded by the pupils, write the words with 
their phonetic spellings upon the board. If 
there is any uncertainty in regard to obscure 
sounds, turn to the vocabulary in the 
Appendix, where a complete list of words is 
given, accompanied by phonetic spellings. 

The Story of Daphne : The story 
of Daphne, as outlined in another lesson 
(Reader, page 145), deals with a common 
characteristic throughout Grecian mythol- 
ogy, the characters of which are often 
changed into inanimate objects, such as 
trees, flowers, stones, etc. In connection 
with this lesson, the teacher might tell the 
story of Narcissus, which in brief runs 
as follows [consult Bulfinch's "Age of 
Fable"]: 



278 Teachers' Manual 

Once there was a woodland nymph named Echo, who 
was loved by Pan, a satjrr. Hi6 body was shaped like a 
goat, and his face was not beautiful to look upon. So 
Echo would have none of him, and one day she came 
across a youth who was most beautiful and whose name 
was Narcissus. " Tell me," said Echo, going up to him, 
"who is the most beautiful person in the world." 
"What do you mean?" said Narcissus. "I mean," 
answered Echo, "what is your name?" "Am I so 
beautiful ? " said Narcissus. Then Echo told him what 
she thought of him, and it made him very curious to see 
himself, for in those days there were no mirrors. He 
said : " One gets tired of being called beautiful by the 
girl nymphs, and could I but see myself once, I woiild 
wed the girl who showed me myself." Thereupon Echo 
led him to a stream and bade him get down upon his 
knees and look therein. And so he did, and knelt there 
in wonder at himself. Soon Echo grew tired of waiting 
and reminded him of his promise; but he would have 
none of her, crying out: " Indeed, I am most beautiful to 
look upon I I love myself madly, and I would you were 
far away!" So Echo left him. 

This is how Narcissus fell in love with himself, and 
for nights and days he sat by the stream gazing at his 
own image, and he pined in love of himself until he 
pined away; and when his friends came to look for him 
they found only a blooming narcissus, into which his 
soul had turned. As for Echo, bowed with grief, she too 
faded gradually away until she became only a voice. 
There are many places where she can even now be heard. 
[See " Gtods and Heroes," by Francillon.] 



Lesson LXVI 279 



LESSON LXVI 



The Lesson : This lesson is based on 
Mary Mapes Dodge's "Hans Brinker, or 
the Silver Skates." Mrs. Dodge is the 
editor of the popnlar juvenile monthly 
"St. Nicholas," and her stories are among 
the best of fiction for children. Among 
these stories may be mentioned "Donald 
and Dorothy" and "The Mystery in a 
Mansion." 

The teacher may use to advantage the 
interesting material to be found in the 
following chapters : Chapter II, ' ' Holland" ; 
Chapter III, "The Silver Skates" ; Chapter 
IX, "The Festival of St. Nicholas"; Chap- 
ter XIX, "On the Canal." 

We would advise the teacher to read the 
book through and mark those passages 
descriptive of Holland and the people of 
that country. Talk to the children about 
skating ; about the dikes and the windmills 
of Holland; about the peculiar wooden 
shoes that the children wear, and the life of 



280 Teachers' Manual 

the Queen of Holland. In fact, this small 
country has many interesting features that 
could be framed into stories. Do not get 
too far away from the child's understand- 
ing ; describe things in such a way that he 
will realize the difference between life in 
Holland and life in America. 

Pronunciation Drill : The teacher 
should remember that this drill is given 
only for the purpose of pronunciation; 
that the phonetic spelling is not the one to 
be used unless the teacher is an advocate 
of the spelling=reform movement. Among 
the philologists there is a movement to 
adopt a common form of phonetics to be 
used by all dictionaries, for the purpose of 
reaching a universal pronunciation among 
English-speaking peoples. The Scientific 
Alphabet happily illustrates its simplicity 
in the fact that, as has been said before, 
there is but one symbol to represent one 
sound and only one sound for each symbol. 
A fault with most systems lies in the fact 
that one diacritical mark may represent a 
number of distinct sounds. This the Scien- 
tific Alphabet avoids, and hence was chosen 
by the editors of the Standard Dictionary 
and of the Standard Reader Series as the 



Lesson LXVII 281 

simplest and the best method of indicating 
correct prommciation. The teacher is ad- 
vised to study, from time to time, the rales 
underlying this system. Only by a thorough 
knowledge of the Scientific Alphabet will 
she be able to make clear to the ordinary 
child the important principles of phonetics. 
The teacher should write to the publish- 
ers of the Standard Reader Series and ask 
for ' ' The Scientific Alphabet of the Eng- 
lish Language," a little pamphlet of sixty= 
four pages, in which these principles are 
clearly set forth. She will there obtain 
descriptive material on the Scientific Al- 
phabet which will prove suggestive. 



LESSON LXVII 



The Lesson : This is a continuation 
of Lesson XXIV, dealing with spectrum 
colors. The rainbow is defined in Ganot's 
"Physics" as follows: 

"The rainbow is a luminous phenomenon which 
appears in the clouds opposite the sun when they are 
resolved into rain. It consists of seven concentric arce, 



282 Teachers' Manual 

presenting successively the colors of the solar spectrum. 
Sometimes only a single bow is perceived, but there are 
usually two : a lower one, the colors of which are very 
bright ; and an external or secondary one, which is 
paler, and in which the order of the colors is reversed. 
In the interior rainbow the red is the highest color ; in 
the other rainbow the violet is. It is seldom that three 
bows are seen ; theoretically a greater number may exist, 
but their colors become so faint that they can not be 
perceived. 

"The phenomenon of the rainbow is produced by 
decomposition of the white light of the sun when it 
passes into the drops, and by its reflection from their 
inside face. In fact, the same phenomenon is witnessed 
in dewdrops and in jets of water— in short, wherever 
sunlight passes into drops of water under a certain 
angle. 

"The appearance and the extent of the rainbow de- 
pend on the position of the observer, and on the height 
of the sun above the horizon ; hence only some of the 
rays refracted by the raindrops, and reflected in their 
concavity to the eye of the spectator, are adapted to pro- 
duce the phenomenon. Those which do so are called 
effective rays." 

Phonetics : These consist of six words 
for prommciation drill and a review of some 
of the vowel sounds of the Scientific Alpha- 
bet. There is also given a phonetic sen- 
tence, which should be analyzed as here- 
tofore suggested. 



Lessons LXVIII, LXIX 283 



LESSON LXYIII 



The Lesson: The stanzas should be 
committed to memory by the pupils, after 
having been read to them by the teacher. 
They should also be read from the phonetic 
text. The teacher is to explain what is 
necessary and to base a nature lesson upon 
violets and honeysuckle. 



LESSON LXIX 



Bible Paraphrase: See note on 
Lesson LXXXVI, page 174 of the Reader. 



384 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LXX 



n 



The following is condensed from the 
" Columbian Cyclopedia " : 

Paper : Fabric composed usually of vegetable fibers 
minutely divided and recombined in thin sheets, either 
by simply drying in contact, or with the addition of size 
or other adhesive material. 

Probably the earliest kind of paper was the papyrus 
(pa-pai'-rus) of the Egyptians. The stems of the 
papyrus=plant, often eight or tsn feet long, are soft and 
green, externally like the common rush; and the interior 
consists of a compact cellular tissue of tiff. In prepar- 
ing papyrus for use as a wTiting*material, a section of 
the stem was sliced longitudinally with a sharp knife or 
some similar instrument, the strips from the center being 
the broadest and the most valuable. The strips were 
then laid on a board side by side and another layer of 
strips was laid across them at right angles. The whole 
was then moistened with water, which dissolved the 
glutinous matter in the papyrus, and the sheet was first 
pressed, then dried in the sun. Any roughness was 
leveled by polishing with ivory or a smooth shell. 

It is known that the Chinese were acquainted with 
the art of making paper from pulp artificially prepared 
as early as the commencement of the Christian era. 

The stock used in the manufacture of fine paper was 
commonly linen rags, but sundry other materials have 



Lesson LXX 286 



been employed for a long time [for example, asbestos, 
bagging or sacking, banana=fiber, bark, bean=^stalke, 
sugar=cane, coconut=fiber, cotton, flax, weeds, fur, 
grass, hay, hemp, hops, jute, leather, leaves, husk, moss, 
old writing-paper, roots, sawdust, silk, thistles, wood, 
wool, etc.]. 

The process of paper^making as outlined 
in the cyclopedia is as follows: 

1. The rags, bark, or fibers are reduced with water to 
fine, smooth pulp; in the paper-mills the boiling is done 
in strong lye, cleaning the rags and softening the fiber. 

2. This product is then put into a washing-machine 
half filled with water, where the rags are ground until 
thoroughly washed, the machine bein^ supplied with a 
continual flow of clean water. 

3. The contents are then allowed to go into a draining* 
chest, where the water is drained away. 

4. The stuff is put into bleaching=vats of stone sub- 
jected to a strong solution of chlorid of lime for about 
twentyfour hours, and frequently agitated. 

5. It is then placed in a hydraulic press so as to remove 
all the liquid and chlorid of lime. 

6. It is then dumped into another washing-machine 
and again broken up and called half 'Stuff. 

7. It is next placed in a beating=engine, where the 
fibers are again ground until they are quite separated. 

8. It is then placed in a pulp=vat, where a wooden wheel 
called a hog agitates it, and the loading=material — china« 
clay or pearl=white — is added. A sizing, which is a 
mixture of resin, soap, and alum, is added to the fibers. 
All is then brought into contact with a solution of alum, 
and a precipitate is deposited on the fibers. 

9. Then follows coloring. Even for pure white paper, 
color must be added to the pulp, such as cochineal, 



286 Teachers' Manual 

ultramarine, or magenta and anilin blue. The pulp 
is now ready for the paper*machine. The machine 
consists of a pulp=vat with a wheel inside to agitate the 
pulp. Through numerous compartments the pulp is car- 
ried, subjected to pressure to take out all of the moisture, 
no strain being put upon the web of the paper. Some- 
times rollers filled with steam commence drying the 
web by means of drying»cylinders and smoothing=rolls. 
Then it is passed through polished rollers of cast iron 
and subjected to considerable pressure, giving glossiness 
to the surface. Then the web is cut into different widths, 
and the water^mark is impressed upon the surface. 

The Les§oii : Different kinds of paper 
now in commercial use should be shown to 
the children. It would be interesting to 
examine the quality of the paper under a 
magnifying=glass or, better still, a micro- 
scope. It would also be advisable to tear 
pieces of the ordinary wrapping=paper to 
show the fibers of which it is composed. 
Have the children tell the difference be- 
tween writing=paper and blotting=paper. 
Tell the uses of paper, and why it is that 
we do not write on blotting=paper. 

Phonetics: While no phonetics are 
indicated, the teacher will find it necessary 
to write upon the blackboard such words 
as Egyptian^ papyrus, valuable, etc., for 
pronunciation purposes. 



Lesson LXXI 287 



LESSON LXXI 



The Ijesson deals with the mytho- 
logical story of "Daphne," and may be 
connected with the lesson dealing with 
trees. Talk with the children about the 
details of the picture and about the different 
points emphasized in the text. Ask sucK 
questions as ' ' Who was Daphne ? " " What 
did she change into?" "Have you ever 
seen a laurel=tree ? " "Do you know who 
Apollo was ?" "Why has Apollo a lyre in 
his hand?" 

In connection with this story, tell of 
Arachne and Narcissus. 

Phonetics : If the teacher has time, 
she might select one or two easy sentences 
from the text and give a thorough drill in 
phonetics upon the board. The drills as 
given on the lesson page should be used 
as heretofore suggested. 



288 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LXXII 



Tlie L<e§§on : The practical application 
of what is gleaned in the schoolroom is 
what the teacher should have constantly in 
mind when she starts the pnpil in a new 
branch of study. One of the weakest points 
in the educational system of to=day is the 
lack of confidence that the student has in 
applying what he has received from books 
or lectures. 

It is a principle of psychology that in the 
growth of the mind to adult development 
there is a transition from the simple to the 
complex. A child cries for the moon long 
before he realizes that there is space be- 
tween him and the object of his desire. 
The child is pleased with an orange first 
because of its yellow color, afterward be- 
cause it is good to eat. So it is in the study 
of bird life. "What a beautiful bird! " is 
the child's exclamation — beautiful because 
of its brilliant plumage. "What a pretty 



Lesson LXXII 289 

song ! " is the child's cry, because he has 
received pleasant sotind^sensations. 

In the Second Reader the child is taught 
to correlate facts and to ask questions. It 
is not enough for the teacher to tell a child 
that the woodpecker has a beak and that 
the humming-bird has a sharper one, but 
she should go a little further and explain 
the uses of the woodpecker's beak and that 
of the humming-bird. It is not necessary 
that she enter into a discussion of the theory 
of evolution, showing how natural selection 
has resulted in the forms we see to=day ; it 
is not necessary that she become scientific ; 
but it is necessary that she become inter- 
esting and show on her part willingness 
to enter heart and soul into the work she 
has in hand. 

Bird Migration : The lesson devoted 
to bird migration treats of the subject in a 
general way. Why birds go from one place 
to another according to changes in seasons 
is replete with problems that might become 
the basis of an interesting talk. An ex- 
planation should be given of the causes of 
migration: (1) climatic changes; (2) neces- 
sity of particular food. The time of ap- 

19 



290 Teachers" Manual 



pearance and departure of birds is different 
in different localities. 

Another topic of conversation might be 
the brilliant plumage of birds in summer= 
time and their subdued colors in winter. 



LESSONS LXXIII, LXXIY, 
LXXY, LXXVI 



The Lie§soiis : The teacher who will 
examine the card catalogue of any library 
will realize that the Shakespearian scholar 
has an embarras cle richesse. The most 
popular books which the teacher could 
consult to advantage would be " Shakspere : 
His Mind and Art," by Edward Dowden 
(Harper & Brothers); "William Shake- 
speare : The Man, the Poet, and the Drama- 
tist," by Hamilton W. Mabie (Macmillan 
& Company) ; "The Forerunners of Shak- 
spere," by Sidney Lanier (Doubleday, Page 
& Company) ; "Shakespeare the Boy," by 
W. J, Rolfe. For stories dealing with 
Shakespeare, see John Bennett's "Master 
Skylark" (The Century Company) and also 



Lessons LXXIII-LXXVI 291 

"Will Shakespeare, Lad," published by the 
same house. Of the works of Shakespeare, 
the best edition for ordinarj" use is ' ' The 
Temple Shakespeare," tho some may prefer 
Rolfe's edition, which is chiefly valuable 
for the copious notes in the back. 

Tlie Play : The story of "As You Like 
It " is one that is intimately connected with 
nature, and for this reason it has been 
selected for the Reader. Throughout the 
work, Shakespeare shows a love for natural 
scenery that he only, among all poets, knew 
how to bring forth in a human way. There 
is not a part of "As You Like It" which is 
not full of that fresh and delightful spirit 
which makes the play a comedy with a 
deeper significance than the word comedy 
usually bears. 

The teacher should refresh her memory 
by rereading the play and marking those 
passages that emphasize Shakespeare's love 
for nature. 

Phonetics : Lesson LXXIII consists of 
ten words with their phonetic spellings for 
pronunciation purposes, also a phonetic 
drill on the diphthongal sounds at and au, 
which should be used according to the 
directions heretofore given, special stress 



292 Teachers' Manual 

being laid upon the correct positions of the 
organs of speech. The phonetic sentence is 
likewise to be used. 

Lesson LXXFV consists of a pronuncia- 
tion and phonetic drill. 

Lesson LXXV contains a pronunciation 
drill. 

Lesson LXXVI consists of a review of the 
diphthongal sounds and also a short review 
of the long and the short vowel sounds of 
the Scientific Alphabet. The teacher should 
bear in mind that the symbols of the Scien- 
tific Alphabet represent particular sounds, 
and should be drilled upon whenever there 
is an opportunity. 



LESSON LXXVII 



Oeneral Remarks: Cone=bearers 
form an interesting group of trees. Among 
these are the pines, which are a survival of a 
prehistoric age. They are the oldest living 
representatives of the forests of the ancient 
world. [Vld. Keeler's "Our Native Trees."] 



Lesson LXXVII ^90 

There are thirty^nine species of pines in 
the United States, writes Harriet Keeler. 
They are tolerant of many conditions of 
soil and climate, from the water's edge to 
the timber=line on the mountainside. The 
roots do not descend very deeply. The 
wood may be hard or soft, and is usually 
resinous. The other products are turpen- 
tine, resin, and tar. 

WHITE PINE 

Name. — Pine. Finns Strobus. 

Family. — Pine. 

Species.— White. 

Height.— 120 feet. 

Trunk diameter. — 3 to 4 feet. 

Distribution. — Forms dense forests, from New'found- 
land to Manitoba, south along the Alleghanies to Georgia 
and southwest to Valley of Iowa; grows at a height of 
4,300 feet in North Carolina and 2,300 feet in Adiron- 
dacks. 

Bark. — Old trees, dark gray; fissures into broad, scaly 
ridges. 

Color of wood.— Light brown. 

Description of wood.— Light, soft, compact, straight" 
grained, very resinous; easily worked; takes a fine polish 

Use of wood.— Lumber, shingles, cabinet=making, 
interior of houses, masts, spars of vessels. 

Shape of leaf .—In clusters of five; 3 to 5 inches long; 
sharply serrate. 

Color of leaf.— Bluish green; in autumn, yellow. 

Time of flowering.— June. 

Fruit.— Cones. 



294 Teachers' Manual 

RED PINE 

Name. — Pine. Pinus resinosa. 

Family. — Pine. 

Species.— Red. 

Height.— 70 to 80 feet. 

Trunk diameter.— 2 to 3 feet. 

Distribution.— United States and northward from New- 
foundland to Manitoba; in United States is most abun- 
dant in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 

Bark. — Bright reddish brown, scaly ridges divided by 
shallow fissures. 

Color of wood. — Pale red. 

Description of wood. — Light, hard, close-grained; very 
resinous bands of small summer cells. 

Use of wood.— Buildings, bridges, piles, masts, and 
spars. 

Shape of leaf.— In clusters of two, 4 to 6 inches long; 
slender, flexible. 

Color of leaf .—Dark green. 

Fruit.— Cones. 

The foregoing material is condensed 
from "Our Native Trees." 



Lessons LXXVIIL LXXIX 295 



LESSONS LXXYIII 
LXXIX 



LiObengrin : The legend which is here 
told should be treated simply as a fairy= 
tale and the deeper significance of the Holy 
Grail omitted. Tell the children that both 
Ai'thur and Lohengidn Tvere knights of the 
Holy Grail, which they were continually 
seeking. The modem and simiDle applica- 
tion is that every earnest worker is seeking 
for an ideal that he never reaches, since 
the ideal is only a relative quantity which 
represents progress and development. The 
use of this story as a Reader lesson is based 
upon the experience of a teacher of the 
Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, New York), else- 
where told in the Manual. Remember that 
the children are more susceptible to the 
beauties of the so=called classics than we 
give them credit for, and it is fast be- 
coming a universal belief that the sooner 
children are brought into touch with the 



296 Teachers' Manual 

best in the world's literature, the better it 
will be for them. 

' Related Subjects : (a) King Arthur 
and the Grail; (b) The Swan; review the 
fundamental characteristics in the previous 
bird lesson 

Phonetics : While none are suggested 
in the lessons, the teacher should apply 
methods previously used. 



LESSON LXXX 



The Fox : The material given in the 
Reader is taken from John Burroughs' 
"Squirrels and Other Fur=Bearers " 
(Houghton, Mifflin & Company), which 
the teacher is advised to consult. 

The teacher in telling about the fox 
should bring in some points about fox= 
hunting and the cruelty of this sport. Tell 
of the wonderful scent of the hunting=dogs. 
Mr. Burroughs gives one or two instances 
of the cleverness of the fox in eluding a 
scent. 



Lesson LXXX 297 

From "American Animals," Stone and 
Cram (Doubleday, Page & Company), we 
condense the following material : 

Red Fox: Also called silver fox; 
length forty inches; rusty red; at the tip 
of the tail the hair is white ; throat white ; 
ears tipped with black; range, northern 
North America, south to Georgia. This 
fox is very shrewd, cunning, and quick ; he 
is bold and audacious. 

This fox is a frequent visitor of the hen= 
roosts, where he spreads consternation and 
destruction. " I have known a fox to kill 
three or four full=grown fowls in an or- 
chard, close to a farmhouse where the 
family were at breakfast, and get away 
without being seen, carrying one of the 
victims with him. " 

To offset this, the fox destroys field= 
mice and woodchucks. In the winter=time 
he follows in the ruts made by the farmer's 
sled. 

Talking of the hunting of the fox, the 
same book has the following : 

"To be run down and overtaken and torn to pieces by 
overpowering numbers, when at last his strength fails 
Mm and all his wiles have proved in vain, is a cruel end 
for any animal to meet," 



298 Teachers' Manual 

The red fox has a slight bark ; his ears 
are wonderfully keen. 

The teacher will find in the same book a 
discussion of the Arctic fox, the gray fox, 
and, closely allied to the foxes, the gray 
wolf. For fables concerning the fox, con- 
sult Lesson IV of this Manual. 



LESSONS LXXXL LXXXII 



Sliado'w : In giving a simple explana- 
tion of a shadow, tell the children that 
sunlight will not pass through opaque bod- 
ies, but will pass on all sides, leaving a 
certain portion of the ground or space in 
its path in total darkness, except for the 
light received by reflection. What is an 
"opaque body"? One that sunlight will 
not pass through, A child placed before 
a white curtain upon which a brilliant 
light is thrown will cut off the light that 
would pass through the space he occupies ; 
as the rays of light are never parallel, 
but diverge from one source, the shadow 
shown upon the screen is larger than the 



Lesson LXXXIII 299 

child himself in proportion to his distance 
from the screen. This may be very well 
shown by a simple diagram upon the 
board, in which the lamp, the child, and 
the shadow are pictured. 

Let the general talk about shadows be 
followed by a description of the eclipse of 
the moon, which may easily be shown by 
means of a globe and candle-light, as may 
also a simple explanation of the phenomena 
of day and night. 

The Poem : This is taken from Steven- 
son's ''Child's Garden of Verses," and 
should be memorized. 



LESSON LXXXIII 



Hemorial Day : The children, having 
now reached the age when events of 
national history begin to impress them- 
selves upon their imagination, will grasp 
the significance of the great struggle that 
occurred between the North and the South. 
Ten years ago what was known in the 
South as Memorial day and what was 



300 Teachers' Manual 

known in the North as Decoration da* 
were events with far different signifio 
cance; but since onr Spanish=Aniericai?j 
war, Memorial day and Decoration dayf 
mean something more than a memory 
that involves a tremendous sectional couk' 
flict. And it is this common phase of thea 
event that the teacher should emphasize in 
the classroom. "Why," a child may ask, • 
"is it that in the South the day is called 
Memorial day and in the North it is called 
Decoration day ? " The teacher must take 
care not to foster any sectional feeling in 
answering this question, but she must be 
prepared to answer it. In the North it is 
a day of rejoicing as well as a day of paying 
respect to the dead. In the South it is a 
day of grief, not only for those who have 
fought for the land, but also for a "lost 
cause. " The Civil war will sooner or later 
have to be studied by the children, and it 
would be well to prepare them with the 
idea that the war is passed and that we are 
one nation. But to the imagination of a 
child the events, from the first shot fired at 
Fort Sumter, will be sure, notwithstanding 
the fact that we all salute the same flag, to 
awaken some sectional feeling. Care must 



Lessons LXXXIV, LXXXV 301 

8 taken in regard to this. A Southern 
oy even now fights through the Civil war 
s tho it were a reality. The histories 
ave not yet been able to take an unprej- 
diced view of the straggle, and the his- 
orian shows too easily where his sympathies 
ire centered, in the distortion of facts. 

Plionetic§ : To be used as in previous 
lessons. 



LESSON LXXXIV 



Bible Paraphrase: See note for 
Lesson LXXXVI, page 174 of the Reader. 



LESSON LXXXV 



We have had occasion to base a previous 
lesson on Eugene Field's "A Little Book 
of Profitable Tales" (Charles Scribner's 
Sons). The volume forms delightful read- 
ing, and there is hardly a story mentioned 
in the table of contents that could not in 
some revised form become the basis for a 



303 Teachers' Manual 

lesson. Much on the order of "The First 
Christmas Tree" are the two stories that 
follow it in the same volume, "The Sym- 
bol and the Saint" and "The Coming of 
the Prince." The spirit of the Christ, 
apart from its theological significance, has 
become a universal spirit. Ian Maclaren 
(Dr. Watson) has, in his "Life of Christ," 
made the assertion that hard indeed would 
it be to imagine the world without this 
influence ; blot out the personality of Christ, 
and see what is left. 

Dr. Henry Van Dyke, in his inimitable 
style, has told the story of "The Other 
Wise Man," basing the incident upon the 
birth of Christ, and upon the adventures of 
the fourth wise man, who never reached 
the manger. It is contained in the collec- 
tion "The Blue Passion Flower." 



Lesson LXXXVI 303 



LESSON LXXXVI 



The following notes cover lessons 
XXXVin (Reader, page 87), LV (Reader, 
page 120), LXII (Reader, page 130), LXIX 
(Reader, page 142), LXXXIV (Reader, page 
170), and LXXXVI (Reader, page 174). 

These lessons are introduced under the 
heading of "Hebrew Literature " and cor- 
respond with the other lessons grouped 
under the headings "American Litera- 
ture," "Greek Literature," "German Lit- 
erature," etc. Five of the lessons are para- 
phrases of the Bible text made by Mr. 
Edwin Markham, one of our foremost 
American poets. In preparing these para- 
phrases for the Reader, Mr. Markham ad- 
hered as closely as possible to the original, 
basing his work upon "Young's Literal 
Translation of the Bible." These lessons 
have met with approval by members of 
the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths. 

A Bible for children was recently pub- 
lished by the Century Company under 



304 Teachers' Manual 

the editorship of Rev. Francis Brown, and 
an introduction written for it by Bishop 
Henry C. Potter, from which we quote the 
following : 

" We may call the books of the Bible a literature in the 
sense in which other books are a literature; but that does 
not make them identical with other literature. We may- 
be unable always to designate, or even to discriminate, 
what that is in their literature which makes it unlike 
other literature; but the fact remains that it is difierent, 
and that this is witnessed to by the universal conscious- 
ness of man, wherever the book has gone, there can not 
be any honest doubt. Peasant and prince, scholar and 
toiler, the wise and the simple, ripe years and childhood, 
have found in it something that spoke to them, touched 
them, held them, quickened them. Its words — and that 
because there was a living and immortal fire in the thought 
behind them — have burned themselves into the inmost 
consciousness of human souls, and have endured there, 
to awaken and transform them. The stories of the Old 
Testament, the poetry of David and Isaiah and their 
compeers, the matchless Life whose brief work in the 
world is told in the four Gospels — these have refused to 
be forgotten, ignored, or dismissed to the world's rub- 
bish'heap of outworn legends." 

The Text : The text of these six lessons 
should be read by the teacher to the pupils, 
but should not be commented upon from 
the dogmatic aspect. The difficult words 
in the text should be pronounced by the 
teacher and written phonetically upon the 



Lesson LXXXVI 305 

blackboard, as has been suggested in pre- 
vious lessons. Use the different words in 
sentences and see that the children have a 
clear understanding of what is meant, 
using the difficult words themselves in 
sentences of their own making. 

Remember that these lessons have been 
introduced as Hebrew literature, Hebrew 
being an inclusive term and relating as 
much to the Christian as to the Jew. If 
the teacher thinks it advisable, she might 
have the children commit some of these 
paraphrases to memory. Possibly she might 
desire only to have the pupils catch the 
general spirit and when the time conies turn 
to the older versions for memory work. 

In the Twenty=third Psalm there is a 
pastoral element that will readily correlate 
with the nature lessons that are to be found 
throughout the book. 



20 



306 Teachers' Manual 



LESSON LXXXVII 



Turo Songs from Shakespeare: 

These are to be treated as heretofore sug- 
gested for the different poems in the book. 
The teacher is to have the difficult words 
carefully pronounced, and base phonetic 
sentences upon the text. This subject is to 
be correlated with the lesson on Shake- 
speare, page 149, and likewise with "As 
You Like It." 



LESSON LXXXVIII 



General Revieur : The same course 
is here to be adopted as was outlined for 
Lesson XLV, page 101 of the Standard 
Second Reader. 



Lesson LXXXiX-Appendix SOI 



LESSON LXXXIX 



Poem : This is to be read to the children 
and its significance explained. The teacher 
is to follow the course of phonetics she 
thinks necessary, and if the preceding les- 
son, which is a general review, has not 
been finished, she is to continue with this 
lesson in connection with the poem. 



APPENDIX 



The Appendix of the Standard Second 
Reader is self=explanatory, and we there- 
fore think it requires no detailed treat- 
ment here. The teacher is referred to the 
Teachers' Manual for the First Reader, 
page 236, for additional material. The out- 
line drawings to be found on pages 197, 198, 
199 of the Reader are given to simplify the 
task of explaining the many color=pictures 
appearing throughout the book. 



FUNK & WAGNALLS, 

STANDARD FIRST 
READER 

In the making of this reader the aim has been to 
give clear enunciation, and to train the pupil in 
detecting and producing the sounds that make the 
language. To give precision, what is known as 
the Scientific Alphabet is used for pronunciation 
purposes only. In the thoughts of the lessons, 
preference has been given to those that tend to 
build character. 

Price, J^ cents, each. 

THE 

Teachers' Manual 

which accompanies the " First Reader " presents 
suggestive material for all the lessons and many 
practical helps for the wide-awake teacher. 

Price, JO cents. 

Editor Western Journal of Education : " We are de- 
lighted, charmed, and instructed by the excellence, the 
newness, and the soundness of the Standard First Reader 
and the accompanying Teachers' Manual." 

Funk & Wagnalls Company, Publishers, Neiv Tork 



What Leading Educational Autiiori- 
ties Say of tlie Funic & Wagnalis 
Standard First Reader: 

From THE EDUCATOR, Boston, 

Wlass. : " At last we have the scientific, practical, 
I)edagogical primer; it has been a long time in 
coming, but the signs have pointed to its coming, and 
its advent is none too soon. ... As each new primer 
arrives it marks an advance over its forerunner ; but 
the struggle toward the light has been a labored one, 
and the goal, if in sight, never quite reached. 

"Dr. Funk has, with an appreciation astonishing in 
one not credited with thinking along lines pertain- 
ing to primary education, produced a work that is 
so original and so practical that one can but admit 
at once the value and usableness of his little work. 
He promptly dignifies the primer, giving to the little 
reader the kind of material for his thought to act 
upon, that is most natural and pertinent. These 
basal thoughts underlie his primer: a child learns 
words by trying to understand or tell some thought; 
he will learn these words as readily if the thought 
is something worthwhile as if it is trivial; and of 
various instructive thoughts, preference should be 
given to those that give in-/orm-ation — that build 
character. ' The school that does not grow character 
is a failure.' 

" The author claims that the essentials for the little 
ones are to detect and produce the sounds that make 
up the English language, and to get a vocabulary. A 
most thorough study of sounds is given, music being 
made a continuing accompaniment to that end. The 
pictures are many, delightful, and illustrative. The 
lessons are pro^essive and are most carefully graded. 
The book makes a distinct and new epoch in the 
production of primary readers ; a cordial welcome 
awaits it from the hands of all first-grade teachers. 

"With the primer is a teachers' manual that is 
replete with suggestive thought and useful informa- 
tion for teachers." 

{Continued on Next Page) 



{FIRST READER— Continued) 

From Prof. GEORGE: MACL.OSKIE, 
Prof, of Biology, Princeton Uni- 
versity : 

"As one of the unfortunates who were compelled 
to pass over the rough places of our antique spelling, 
I feel grateful to the innovators, Americans and 
others, who have helped to make the way smooth 
for the young people. And I cordially welcome the 
Standard First Reader, which comes with all the 
charms of striking type, poetry, and brightly colored 
pictures, on the beneficent mission of lighteLing the 
burden imposed by our own ignorance and preju- 
dice." 

From FRANCIS A. MARCH, lili.D., 

li.H.D., Lafayette College, formerly 
President of tlie American PhiJo- 
logical Association : 

" I am very glad to see this Reader. I hope it may 
be taken up at once by leading normal schools and 
kindergartens. Then it will spread as fast as teach- 
ers can be prepared for it. I hope to live till it is the 
first question asked of all applicants for places in the 
primary schools : ' Can you teach Funk & Wagnalls 
First Reader?' " 

From HARR l^AGNER, Editor 
"W^estern Journal of Education," 
San Francisco, Cal.: 

" I am delighted, charmed, and instructed with the 
excellence, the newness, and the soundness of the 
' Teachers' Manual ' and the accompanjdng ' Stand- 
ard First Reader. ' I shall use it in my institute work 
this fall." 

From T. A. MOTT, Superintendent of 
Schools, Richmond, Ind. : 

"This is a beautiful book — in every way attract- 
ive. I know of no First Reader as attractive in all 
of its parts as this." 

{Continued on Next Page) 




From GIIiMAN C. FISHER, Superin- 
tendent of Schools, Great Barring- 
ton, Mass. : 

" This is a Reader that I am willing to recommend 
for a trial in our schools. The twelve points claimed 
for it are strong, and strongly put. If the Reader in 
the schoolroom fulfils this promise, it will sweep the 
market. I believe in drills in phonics, that they 
should begin early, and that every effort should be 
made to make the lessons, even in the First Reader, 
instructive." 

From E. E. SCRIBNEK, Superin- 
tendent of Schools, Dunkirk, N.Y. : 

"This Reader appeals to me favorably in all re- 
spects. I intend to use it supplementary next year. 
There are many reasons why phonic drills should be 
given from the beginning of school-life. Words and 
letters are cold instruments for the expression of 
thought, and of course are valuable only as such in- 
struments. They should therefore have incidental 
consideration, and it certainly should be the chief 
aim in teaching to develop in the child's mind 
thoughts which are elevating and build character — 
the formative mind is easily directed." 

From CHARLES H. HORN, Superin- 
tendent of Schools, Traverse City, 
Mich. : 

"I will recommend this Reader to teachers of pri- 
mary classes. I am convinced that attention should 
be given to sounds at the beginning of a child's 
school-life, and lam convinced that letters should 
be learned incidentally; am not so sure about 
words. Unquestionably every effort should be made 
to have lessons taught in the First Reader of a 
character-building kmd. Were I to remain superin- 
tendent of this place, I would urge this Reader upon 
the teachers of the primary classes." 

{Continued on Next Page) 



{FIRST READER— ConiinueoD 



From E. BEIVJ. ANDREWS, IiL..I>., 

Chancellor University of Nebraska, 

Ijate Superintendent of the Public 

Schools of Chicago, and formerly 

President of Brovrn University : 

"The extraordinary merit (as well as novelty) of 

the Eeader is that, without violating any pedagogical 

principle, it introduces children to a noble range of 

social and ethical ideas level with their apprehension. 

This is a great step in advance. On witnessing it I 

wonder it has not been taken before. It is a splendid 

specimen of correlation on a high plane. 

" I believe with this Eeader that the drill in pho- 
netics should begin earlj^, and that School Commis- 
sioner Harris is correct in saying that children who 
are trained in phonetics and then in common spelling 
learn to read in less time than by the usual method. 
"I heartily agree with the editors of the Reader 
that words should be taught in connection with 
thoughts, and that these thoughts should tend to build 
character. lam greatly pleased with this Reader." 

From Prof. ^X . A. ANTHONY, Cooper 
Union Night School of Science, N.Y.: 

" I have been a teacher for nearly fifty years. The 
ideas that are embodied in this First Reader certainly 
seem to me very reasonable, especially the use of the 
Scientific Alphabet for teaching proper pronunciation 
of words. The plan of teaching the child ideas seems 
to me above all to be commended. I consider that 
there is nothing more important in the education of a 
child than the study of nature, and it seems to me 
that every child's education should begin in the open 
air, and what he is taught to read should have relation 
to what he has seen. I am glad to see that many of 
the lessons in this First Reader have relation to things 
with which the child is likely to be famOiar, and that 
in the Manual the teacher is recommended to take 
the children out into the fields and woods where they 
can see the birds and animals and flowers, to which 
the lessons refer." 

{Continued on JVext Page) 



{FIRST BE ADEB— Continued) 

From WIIiLiIAlWr T. HARRIS, U. S. 
Scliool Commissioner, Wasliiiig- 
ton, D. €. : 

"I am glad that this Reader gives emphasis to the 
importance of phonetics. I thmk that the use of a 
phonetic alphabet would help forward the work of 
teaching English in Porto Rico and Manila." 

[Mr. Harris gives the result of his experience in 
drilling in phonetics as Superintendent of the Public 
Schools in St. Louis, stating that he found that those 
taught to read jB.rst phonetically and then in the com- 
mon spelling learned both ways in less time than 
they were able, by the other method alone, to learn 
to read the common spelling, because, being familiar 
with the phonetic symbols, the variations from them 
attracted attention and fastened themselves on the 
memory.] 

From THOMAS J. KIRK, State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction, 
Sacramento, Cal. : 

"Judging from appearance, this Reader and the 
accompanying Manual are up to date in every re- 
spect, and deserve extensive sale and favorable con- 
sideration from all teachers." 

From GFOROF H. THOMAS, Super- 
intendent of Scliools,McCool£, Neb.: 

" This is an admirable little Reader. To judge it 
properly, however, it must be actually tested in class- 
room work. I shall be interested in seeing it so 
tested. I believe in the emphasis it gives to the im- 
portance of phonetics. There is absolutely no ques- 
tion about the principle in this Reader; namely, the 
teaching words and letters by the thought-method, 
making the thoughts of a character-building kind." 

Funk & Wag'nalls Company, Publishers 
30 Lafayette Place, New York 



Unsurpassed in Accuracy and Completeness 

" In thoroughness, completeness, accuracy, typog- 
raphy, style, and illustration, it challenges criticism and 
commands admiration." — Journal of Education^ Boston. 



THE FUNK & WAG N ALLS 

STANDARD 
DICTIONARY 

is the latest, most complete, and most sumptuous 
dictionary in existence 5 a necessity in every school 
and study. It is the result of the highest scholarship 
and expert skill of over two hundred and fifty of the 
world' s most distinguished scholars and specialists. One 
hundred universities and colleges and twenty govern- 
ment departments are represented among its compilers. 



STATISTICS OF ITS GREATNESS 
Jiy,000 Vocabulary Terms; ^57 Editors and Special- 
"'^> S33 Readers for Rotations; 12^,000 Synonyms 
and Antonyms: 24 Beautiful Colored Plates; J,000 
Illustrations; Appendix of ^^J^OOO Facts; Cyclopedia 
of J 00, 000 Entries; 88 Pages of Colored Maps; 
Cost O-ver a Million Dollars. 



Prof. A. H. Saye (Oxford University), the Eminent 
Philologist : " The Standard Dictionary is truly mag- 
nificent, and worthy of the great continent which has 
produced it. It is more than complete. ... It is certain 
to supersede a41 other existing dictionaries of the English 
language." 

Funk & Wagnalls Company^ Publishers^ New York 



THE GREATEST EDUCATIONAL 
TRIUMPH OF THE AGE 

Prof. Andrew Preston Peabody (Harvard Univer- 
sity) : "It will prove of invaluable service, and will 
last while the English language remains essentially 
unchanged. It will not have to be rewritten for three 
or four generations to come." 

THE FUNK & WAGNALLS 

STANDARD 

DICTIONARY 

It embraces many new and exclusive dictionary fea- 
tures of immense convenience and value. 

A Feiv of Its Many Educational Ad'vantages 

Disputed Spellings and Pronunciations are 
dealt with more thoroughly than ever before. 

Compounding and Syllabication of Words 
are, for the first time, reduced to a scientific system 
in the Standard Dictionary. 

The Correct Use of Capital Initial Letters 
is indicated throughout the vocabulary, only such words 
as should begin witli a capital being so printed. 

A Valuable System of Group Indexes is pro- 
vided exclusively in the Standard Dictionary. By this 
system all the facts concerning important classes of 
words can be quickly ascertained. 

The Correct Use of Prepositions is explained 
with many illustrations. 

A Valuable Department of " Faulty Dic- 
tion " gives many examples of the wrong use of words, 
and corrects many common errors of speech and writing. 
List of Irregular Plurals — Over 4,000 — 
with rules governing their formation. 

Send for Prospectus and Terms. 
Funk & Wagnalls Company^ Publishers, New York 



'JAN 9 1904 



